The Music Teacher
by s.Two
Summary: Music is a harmonic connection between all human beings. Their connection is instant. Their chemistry undeniable. Nothing could stop them, except for one thing: he's married. TxG
1. Chapter 1

It's been a good two years since I've posted a story on fanfiction in the HSM fandom. I'm not as addicted to the series anymore, but I still enjoy playing with the characters. I am a student, and therefore school and studies are my primary focus, so I hope you will bear with my erratic updates. I will try to write whenever possible.

This is a rated story, co-written between an author and myself but I will be writing.

If you're not of age or are uncomfortable with swearing and scenes of intimacy, you've been warned. Otherwise, enjoy!

* * *

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Get the hell out of my face!"

"Don't you dare walk away from me!"

"Or what? What are you going to do? I'm sick and tired of you trying to control everything I do! I'm sick of arguing every single night with you!"

"We won't have to argue if you stopped bringing shit up all the time!"

"Me? Oh and going to the 'office' every night isn't something that needs to be brought up? I'm not stupid Greg; don't think I don't know what you're doing!"

"Don't get me started—"

Gabriella Montez slammed the door to her room, cutting off whatever her father was about to shoot back at his wife of 22 years. She turned off her room lights and her desk lamp, and flopped herself onto her bed. Her hands reached to her bed side table, and grabbed the one thing that kept her sane; her i-Touch. Plugging both earphones in, she quickly tapped into her playlist. Classical music flooded her ears and drowned out the arguing that was still going on, reducing them to a buzz that was barely audible above her music.

She sighed. She could only hope that the next day come sooner, so that she would be at school for the majority of her day rather than being at home hearing the same argument over again.

Most of all, she couldn't wait for her music class.

* * *

"Troy come for dinner,"

"One second,"

"Now please,"

"I'm coming,"

"It's getting cold, and I have to go soon,"

Troy Bolton put his pen down and sighed. He rubbed his temple with two fingers as he slowly stood up from his study. The music sheets and lesson plan he had spent most of the day drafting were lying before him, half way done. He bit back the annoyance that was starting to bubble as he made his way to the kitchen, where his wife of three years stood before him.

Sharpay Evans (she refused to take his last name) placed the bowl of spaghetti on his end of the table before brushing her hands off on a nearby towel. Troy sat down as she sat opposite to him,

"Where are you going?" Troy asked, Sharpay looked up, her brown eyes only flickering with a spark of small irritation for a split second,

"I have a rehearsal, I told you last week," she answered. Troy nodded silently. Sharpay was an actress on Broadway, which meant she had shows upon, shows lined up for her schedule. Just as well, seeing as Troy was a music professor at the Julliard's School of Arts, as well as a director for the New York City Orchestra which played at some of Sharpay's shows.

Ironic how it was their profession that drew them together…yet it was the very same profession that now stood between them and the long dinner table as they ate in silence.

* * *

The next morning Gabriella woke up to silence in her home. She sighed; it was the only moment when both her parents were home that the house was silent. Looking at her clock, she realized that it was 7 in the morning, and she didn't need to be in class until nine. Slowly, she dragged her body out of her bed, clad only in a thin tank top and short shorts as she made her way to the bathroom.

She took a quick look at herself in the mirror, her brown hair hanging curly down to her petite waist, slightly tangled from her night's sleep. Her tank top stuck to her body only slightly, lightly outlining her curves. Her legs were long and toned, and her eyes were slightly red from waking up so early. Stripping herself, Gabriella turned the shower on, and tested the water before going in, sighing as the warm stream of water slowly woke her body.

She closed her eyes as she thought back to the time when she had got her acceptance to Julliard.

Against her parent's knowledge, she had secretly gone to audition at the prestigious art school. All her life Gabriella had had a strong interest in music, be it vocal or instrumental. She was in her elementary school choir when she was younger, and had been a part of her school band ever since she remembered starting music in high school. Music was the one thing that kept her together and away from her family drama. When she was in music, all she felt, and heard and thought of was the music. When she played, she played within a group, drowning herself in the sounds of different parts of the music coming together; a single piece created by twenty, thirty, fifty different individuals playing individual parts, and those individual parts contributing and pieced together into one single, magnificent work of art.

In music was where she could lose herself, and forget the world around her.

Of course when she had told her parents she chose to attend Julliard's, their reaction had been a flat out no.

"_What kind of job are you going to get with a degree from an arts school?"_

"_What about Stanford University? Didn't you get an acceptance there? Don't waste your talents at an arts school Gabby,"_

Gabriella had never fought for something so hard in her entire life. She argued her parents, defending the reputation of Julliard's. It wasn't until Gabriella promised her parents she would also be taking additional advanced mathematics and science courses that they had reluctantly allowed her in the school.

"_Only if your priority is in those topics Gabby, I don't want you getting distracted with some music or art program,"_

Gabriella had been quick to accept all their demands, fully anticipating her first day in the school. She had worked hard for the past four years in school to build up her tuition, and with some government aid she was determined to pay the tuition off herself, refusing to let her parents hold the fact that they had paid for her against her in the future.

Gabriella snapped out of her day dreaming when she realized she had been in the shower for quite some time already. Quickly turning it off, she toweled herself dry, and quickly picked out an outfit. 10 minutes later, Gabriella had her hair brushed, and walked downstairs clad in a simple t-shirt under a stripped cardigan, dark skinny jeans and a pair of brown boots.

"Morning," she greeted her parents quietly. Greg and Isabella Montez looked up, and offered her a smile. Greg was sitting at the table, with a cup of coffee and a piece of toast reading the newspaper, while Isabella was at the far end of the kitchen cleaning the dishes. If Gabriella hadn't heard them argue almost every night, this would have pulled off a perfect family.

"Ready for school honey?" Isabella asked, Gabriella nodded, accepting her orange juice and toast,

"Do you need a ride?" Greg asked, Gabriella shook her head,

"I can take the bus, I have time," she replied. Greg nodded, his eyes turning from her, to the flute case she held in her hands, "You have music?"

"Last class of the day…" Gabriella said quietly, shuffling so that her instrument was behind her.

"What else do you have?"

"Biology, Chemistry and Statistics today," Gabriella answered quickly. Greg nodded his head, commenting no further at her classes. Gabriella quickly ate her toast and drowned her drink before saying a quick good bye, dashing out the door.

On the bus, Gabriella sighed as she slumped onto the seat.

"That was too close," she said to herself. She carefully held her instrument to her throughout the bus ride, watching as New York City passed her by in a blur, the people on the streets going about their business without minding others.

That would be exactly what she would do today, going about her own business.

* * *

Troy had fallen asleep by the time Sharpay had returned from her late night rehearsals. The next morning, Sharpay was fast asleep when Troy woke up at 6. He quietly grabbed his clothes and headed to the washroom, locking the door. He stripped his grey t-shirt and shorts, and stepped into the shower stall as the streams of hot water pour continuously onto his back. He sighed, rubbing his dirty blond hair under the shower.

It wasn't that he didn't love his wife…he did, if he didn't he wouldn't have asked her to marry him three years ago. It's just that…the love wasn't as strong as it had been before. Their first year had been amazing. He was 25, she was the same age. He had just graduated with honors from university, and she in the midst of auditioning for small parts around the area.

Prior to landing the job at the university, Troy had been a part of the orchestra that played at Broadway shows from time to time. His love for music had lasted him throughout high school and well into his post secondary education. By the time he graduated, Troy had a degree in music and a degree for teaching as a backup. The first day he played with the orchestra, Sharpay had landed a role as the younger version of the main female character. He had been back stage when he had bumped into her.

It was like the movies, as if everything had slowed down and he only saw her. She mumbled a quick apology, and instead of replying with the same thing, Troy had stumbled and blurted out his name, and asking for hers. She had smiled at him, given her name, and walked off. Troy remembered circulating that name in his mind for the rest of the night, so much so he almost missed his entrances (and a few other ones) throughout the night.

After then, Troy loitered around the stage, always bumping into her, until one night, after her last encore, he waited for her as she stepped out of the dressing room. Like the first time he had met her, he stumbled through his speech,

"_Do you want to go for dinner?" _except that didn't come out of his mouth, it came from hers. Troy nodded embarrassingly, and they had a long talk and dinner at a nearby café. Two weeks after, they started going out. Half a year later, Troy had proposed, and she had accepted. They were both young, and in love.

Now, at the age of 28, Troy realized that there was no such thing as a movie like romance. There was no such thing as the world slowing down, only seeing the object of your affection in front of you. Sharpay's career had taken off right after, and Troy's own career in the orchestra and in the teaching profession soared at the same rate. They saw each other less and less, and became more engrossed in their own work. Going home now felt more like going back to sleep, as opposed to returning to his place of comfort.

Troy quickly got out of the shower, and dressed himself in a loose black dress shirt, and a pair of dark jeans. Unlike most professors, he chose to dress comfortable, and not in something that made him look forty. As he left his house, Sharpay was still asleep, and he would not be home before she had to attend to another show later on that night.

* * *

Gabriella went through the rest of the day the best she could. Her first class had been Biology, which was relatively interesting. She sat in a lecture hall of over a hundred students, where her professor began the introduction in a dreary voice, as though he had done this one too many times, and was reading off a script. Gabriella didn't take any notes, deciding the first introduction course wasn't particularly useful. Aside from getting a syllabus of the class, and the books she was required to get, they were dismissed early.

Her other three classes were the same; Professors who had been teaching too many students for too long, and teaching the same material as though they were reading from a book. By the end of her statistics class, she had nothing to look forward to except to her music class which was unfortunately two hours away. Deciding that she would spend the two hours to do some reading, Gabriella went to find the school's food court before heading to a quiet corner…that is if she could find the food court.

A good five minutes later she was as good as lost, and the people around her were in such a hurry, she didn't know if she should stop one of them and ask for directions.

"Hey, need some help?" said a stranger's voice. She jumped a bit, turning around to see a taller and older man standing in front of her. He had shaggy dirty blond hair, and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He wore a dark dress shirt and dark jeans and had a lopsided smile on his face.

"_He looks…hot."_ Was the first thought that entered her mind. She blushed quickly,

"S-Sorry, I'm a bit lost," she stuttered. The man in front of her laughed,

"I can tell, maybe I can help you?" he asked in a friendly manner. Gabriella smiled in relief,

"Please, if you don't mind," she said, "I'm actually just trying to find a food court…or any place with food to be honest," the man chuckled,

"If you walk up in that direction, " he pointed to his right, "you'll end up at the music building," the man noticed she brightened up when he mentioned that, "There's a small café there you can get something to eat, and it's usually pretty empty around this time so you'll probably find an area to study as well, although between you and me…I'd avoid getting the chicken broth there," Gabriella cocked her head,

"Trust me you don't want to know," he chuckled. Gabriella giggled,

"Thanks," she said, "I'm Gabriella Montez, by the way," she said. She felt weird, introducing herself to a pure stranger…but he was helpful, so that would mean he wasn't some weirdo right?

"Troy Bolton, and glad to help Miss Montez," Troy said. Gabriella blushed prettily, before saying thank you again and heading at the direction he had pointed her to. Troy noted that she had an instrument with her,

"I wonder if she's in the program…" he mused to himself. He started walking back to where he was headed, towards one of the teacher's lounge, but looked behind to spare a look at the young girl who had disappeared into the music building. He chuckled to himself, he could remember her lost face, and the way her cheeks tinted pink when he offered his help. It was a fairly windy day, and her brown curls had stuck to her cheeks a few times during her blush.

Not a bad start to the day, he had to admit. Now he was only looking forward to his class of the day…music.

* * *

The rest of the two hours passed by relatively fast for Gabriella. By the time her music class rolled around, she had gotten used to the outline for the rest of the year for her other classes, and had marked down important dates on her cell phone and planner. Now, with baited breath, she began her way towards one of the many studios littered around the campus. She was glad for a certain Troy Bolton for pointing her towards the music department building, because that was exactly where her music class was to take place.

She climbed up the stairs, that took her to a more hollow corridor, with fewer rooms, rooms she suspected to be music studios where the school's many music group practiced. Gabriella walked down the hall for a good minute, before reaching the final studio, which was hidden behind double doors. She looked down, STU. 518 was what her schedule said, she looked at the sign on the door, STU 518. She was at the right place. With a deep breath, she pulled the doors opened.

As if someone had turned the entire world on mute, and suddenly turned the volume up, Gabriella's ears were bombarded with the sounds of various instruments warming up and tuning. Trumpets, drums, clarinets, saxophones, tuba, sounds that ranged from the highest register of a flute, to the lowest register of the tuba cluttered and clashed against one another. It was an environment full of noise, and Gabriella couldn't be more excited.

She quickly found an empty seat in a section where she saw most of the flutes sitting; the second row, in the middle right in front of the conductor's stand. As she settled down, a girl in front of her turned around. She had a heart shaped face, and soft auburn hair that fell in front of a pair of glasses,

"Hi, are you new?" she asked. Gabriella smiled nervously,

"Yea, it's my first year here," she said sheepishly. The girl in front smiled back,

"I can tell, not a lot of students choose to sit right in front of the conductor, let alone right in the middle," she said. Gabriella gulped,

"Is it…is it that bad?" She asked. The girl giggled,

"Not in the way you think it is…it's just that…well being in the middle means you're in the direct sight line of the professor…and well, let's just say he's had to stop certain female students from staring at him, and not because they wanted to keep timing." The girl looked up and smiled again, "Hi, I'm Kelsi Nielson,"

"Gabriella Montez," Gabriella smiled, "Are you…a second year?"

"I am, it's my second year under the professor, but it's my first year at Julliard's. I was in his other group before I auditioned and came here,"

"So…the professor isn't bad then?" Gabriella asked nervously. Kelsi laughed,

"Oh, he's not bad at all. He definitely knows his stuff, and he's an amazing teacher. But…well you'll see why most of the girls here choose to sit at the side, away from his direct sight line but not far enough to not see him properly," Kelsi chuckled, and Gabriella couldn't help but realize that Kelsi was right. There were few students around her, near the middle, but all the side seats in her row had already been taken up.

For the next few minutes, Gabriella assembled her instrument together, and chatted with Kelsi while she warmed up. Playing the notes completely relaxed her body and mind, and by the time most of the group had arrived and finished warming up, Gabriella was good friends with Kelsi, and she was now more excited to get started in playing, than anything else.

And start it did, because the moment the double doors swung opened, the entire room fell silent as someone entered the room. Gabriella couldn't see properly (she wasn't particularly tall…and a tuba was blocking her view) but she safely assumed it was the professor as half the group suddenly sat up straighter.

"We all great a few inches, excellent," said the voice in front of her. She blinked, it sounded oddly familiar. Gabriella took a few secretive glances around her, and she saw the girls around her were watching in rapt attention, with blushes on their cheeks.

"Welcome to new people, and to old students, I don't know why you chose to came back but good luck to you all," the professor said. There were scattered chuckles from the room, one of them belonging to Kelsi.

"My name is Troy Bolton, I will be your slave driver this year. You can call me Troy, or Bolton, or Professor Troy, but never call me sir, because I am not that old."

Gabriella's head shot up at the name. Kelsi was right; her seat gave her direct sight line to the professor standing only a few feet in front of her. The moment she looked up, her eyes were caught in the same intensely blue eyes she had seen only a couple hours earlier that day.

And was it her imagination, or did he see her too? And gave her a smile of recognition?

* * *

**Again I will repeat I am a student and therefore updates will be erratic, please bear with me. Gabriella is 20 here, and Troy is 28 (yes I made them a good 8 years apart) to even be remotely close to the normal age required of their profession (Heck, a professor is at LEAST in their low-mid thirties). Reviews make me happy :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: CDs and Red Carpets**

Did you know that the flute was one of the hardest instruments to play? The full length of a tuba is eight meters if you stretch it out. That's eight meters of hollowness a player's breath has to go through before letting out a single note. The flute is nowhere near the full length of a tuba, but did you know that only 25% of the air used by a flautist makes it into the flute, which means the remaining 75% just disappears into nothingness; only 25% of air going into an instrument that holds the highest register within a band.

No wonder she was breathless…especially every time she looked up to the conductor to keep time, only to catch his blue eyes sweeping over the band and just so happened to catch hers.

"And stop," Troy circled his baton in the air, effectively cutting the massive group's performance. Gabriella took a deep breath as she put her flute down. Her heart was racing slightly after having played for an hour straight. Her head was slightly light, but it was a good feeling. A feeling she took and treasured whenever her mind focused on the notes before hear, and her head and ears filled with nothing but the music around.

"We're cutting it short today, please have this piece learned and ready by next week." Troy instructed, there were playful groans from some of the students, while Gabriella looked up in slight shock. Next week? The _entire_ piece by next week? She mentally thought of her schedule, how on earth was she going to find time-and place- to learn this?

By the time she had finished her train of thought, people were already packing left right and center. She looked up to see a group of girls who were currently talking to the professor. What about? Gabriella had no idea, but by the way a few of them twirled the ends of their hair, it probably had nothing to do with music. She observed Professor Troy Bolton carefully, was he going to be annoyed by the girls around him? He didn't look annoyed; he had a smile on his face as he patiently answered whatever they asked him. He suddenly looked up, and caught her stare and Gabriella looked down quickly, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Feeling warm?" said another voice. Gabriella's head shot up, meeting Kelsi's kind smile, Gabriella laughed nervously,

"Just a bit,"

"You'll get use to it, he's already lenient today," Kelsi said, and Gabriella giggled,

"I guess he's not as easy going as he sounds?"

"Not at all, what do you expect from the man who conducts the New York Orchestra?" Gabriella's eyes widened,

"_He_ conducts the orchestra?" Gabriella gasped. Kelsi laughed at her shocked face,

"Someone didn't do their homework," Kelsi teased, "He hasn't been conducting for long, I think it's his second year? But the people who've reviewed his work pretty much made him the most sought after conductor right now."

"But…he looks so young," Gabriella mused, Kelsi laughed,

"I know right? And isn't he just the hottest?" Gabriella's eyes widened as she felt her cheeks redden again,

"W-What?" she stuttered. Kelsi laughed out loud seeing how flustered Gabriella was becoming,

"Relax Gabriella, I was kidding. Or did you think I was serious?" the auburn haired girl teased. Gabriella laughed, inwardly releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Well I have to go, I've got a private session in a few minutes, it was really nice meeting you,"

"Nice to meet you too Kelsi," Gabriella smiled,

"Hey, let's trade numbers. Whenever you're free give me a call! I'm in residence so I'm not about to go anywhere, we can talk more about the hot Troy Bolton that's got you flustered," Kelsi laughed when Gabriella aimed a small glare at her. None the less, the two girls took out their phones, and exchanged numbers quickly before Kelsi took her stuff and left. As Gabriella left the studio, she realized that she had been the only one left in the room after her chat with Kelsi, and Troy Bolton was sitting in his desk by the corner. She wondered how much of the conversation he had heard…

As Gabriella left the room, Troy glanced up with a small but amused smile on his face. He looked down at his seating plan, and jotted the name _Gabriella Montez_ onto the center seat.

* * *

When Gabriella opened the front door to her house, the smell of dinner wafted from the kitchen to her nose as her stomach growled in response. She stood still for a second, hearing only the sounds of pots and pans moving. Both her parents were home, and the house was uncommonly quiet. The silence only unnerved her more.

"I'm home…" she called out tentatively. As she moved into the kitchen, she saw Isabella bustling around the kitchen, while Greg sat at the table, in the same seat as he was just earlier this morning, reading a newspaper. Gabriella wondered if he had moved at all,

"Welcome home sweetie, how was school?" Isabella smiled. Gabriella fought back a twitch of annoyance, Isabella's tone made it sound as if Gabriella had just successfully walked home by herself after a full day in kindergarten. She had gotten use to her mother using that tone on her; it was as if just by asking how her life was like nothing was wrong, it would mask the fact that their entire family was wrong.

"Normal, just introduction to classes," Gabriella answered vaguely, Isabella nodded, still with a smile pasted on her face as she turned to the stew she had been working on.

"Why were you so late?" Greg asked from his table,

"I had music last,"

"Does it always take this long?"

"It's only two hours dad, we ended early today,"

"So it'll be even later?"

"Yes"

"That's just ridiculous, your other classes are only an hour each,"

"It's an arts school dad!" Gabriella snapped, Greg looked up, a frown etched on his face, "I can handle it, don't worry. I'm not really hungry, I'm going to skip dinner," and she turned back around, heading up the stairs. She was barely half way up when she heard Isabella's voice scolding her husband, and Greg's sharp and rough response. She door was barely closed before another argument broke out.

Again.

Gabriella settled in front of her laptop, turning it on while she automatically tuned out the buzzing noise that came downstairs. Opening her browser, she quickly went on Google and typed in "Troy J. Bolton" (she had read and re-read her class list enough to know). The first page that the site brought up was the orchestra's official site, the first picture she saw was a head shot of the man who had just conducted her for the last hour.

_Troy Bolton graduated with honors from Julliard's top of his class. He was an active member of the orchestra prior to his ascension to the position as conductor two years ago. He has conducted in concerts in many famous concert halls as well as famous Broadway shows. Troy conducted the orchestra's first OST, which was featured in the album compilation by acclaimed Broadway star __Sharpay Evans__ (click for more information)._

That was it. One paragraph to describe the man who conducted one of the most famous orchestras she's heard of. It was simple, straightforward and professional, and she found it curious that she could find nothing else about him.

"_Gabrella why are you even interested in his personal life?"_ she mentally berated herself. Scrolling through the site, she watched 30 second clips of orchestra performances, and some rehearsal clips. She was emersed in the way the band came together as one, the energy and focus so strong and united she could feel it even through the computer screen.

What sent chills down her spine, though, was not the impeccable tuning of each instrument, or the emotions and waves that she could feel in the notes, but in his intensity. His narrowed eyes as he observed the group of talented young adults before him. His blue eyes were solely concentrated on the group, not having to look down at the score. His arms waved in a subtle manner, and yet it was as if he was conducting waves in an ocean. He put his heart and soul into each note, each wave and each point. His energy was like the gravity in the room; all attention was pulled towards him, and only him.

Gabriella found herself re-watching the video, focused on the way he conducted, his fluidity, his passion. It spoke volumes, and yet it was all subdued and controlled in a single wave or motion. Curious, Gabriella scrolled down further,

_Click here for order information_

The moment Gabriella had seen she could get the CD, she was done. As New Yorker, and a music lover, she would have to admit that she had never once bought a CD from the orchestra. And now, she had an overwhelming urge to. She stood up, grabbing her bag along the way as she made her way downstairs. It was blissfully silent,

"Where are you going?" Isabella asked as she walked out of the kitchen,

"I…have to get a book," Gabriella covered quickly, "I won't be long, I'll be back in an hour,"

"Bring your phone alright, let us know if you need a ride," Isabella said at once. Gabriella nodded, not promising anything. A late night walk sounded more promising than a ride where both her parents were silent, mentally forming ideas of what to argue of next.

* * *

Troy got home sooner than he had anticipated after he had wrapped things up at the school. When he made his way into his house, Sharpay was making her way down the stairs. Her blonde hair was curled into bouncing waves that landed between her shoulder blades. Her brown eyes accentuated by a smoky shadow and lips berry pink. Her pearl white dress glistened with scatter of crystals, accenting her delicate curves, porcelain skin, and a hint of cleavage to leave reporters (and others) guessing.

"I was hoping you'd make it back on time," Sharpay said in greeting as she breezed her way past him to the living room. Troy looked at her, the air was scented a sticky strawberry scent.

"What's going on?" Troy asked,

"Just a screen party, I got your suit upstairs in the room, the car's coming in ten minutes," Sharpay said, coming back into view after grabbing her matching black tote.

"How come I don't know about this," he frowned. Sharpay paused, turning to look at him, her lips in a delicate frown, careful of the make up she had surely spent hours doing.

"I mentioned this a few days ago," Sharpay said, "What is there that you do know?"

"Don't start this now," Troy sighed, rubbing between his temples, "It slipped my mind,"

"Of course," Sharpay brushed it off breezily, "Which is why I'm telling you now,"

Troy opened his mouth to say something only to close it quickly. It was a losing battle, there was no use in wasting energy in trying to get out of it. Don't get him wrong, it wasn't because he didn't want to go and support his wife in what she does. Sharpay was living her dream, and Troy was more than happy to escort and accompany her when her job requires it. Except the more she's into her job, the less they were together. Being in the public eye meant you had to build a thick skin, or more or less build a completely new identity, a shield to hide your true self from the flashing cameras and blood thirsty tabloids and reporters.

As Troy got ready, and pulled on the suit that Sharpay had put on him, he looked at the mirror. The suit was his shield, so was the subtle hint of cologne and refined appearance. The suit, and her dress would be their shield. And sometimes, Troy would wonder if their portrayal of a couple was a shield or not.

Gabriella wandered around the street of Time Square. Sometimes she felt that New York could rival Las Vegas as the city that never sleeps. Time Square was crowded and filled with people 24/7, whether they were New Yorkers of visitors from other places. The lights blared and horns honked through the busy streets. Gabriella would lose herself amongst the crowd, learning to duck her head, tuck in her bag and make her way minding her own business.

Tonight was especially crowded; parts of the streets were roped off for some sort of event that was taking place. The line up of reporters and cameras and screaming fans told her it was some sort of red carpet. The music store she wanted to go to wasn't too far from her house, and albeit it was harder to get through the string of people that were more interested at what was going on with the red carpet, Gabriella eventually made her way to the store to find it blissfully quiet.

Going to the instrumental section of the store was like second nature to her. She didn't know why she had developed such a strong interest in music, seeing as for most of her elementary school and high school life, she was completely focused in the maths and sciences, much to her parent's delight.

Wait...she lied, she did know why.

It was half way through high school when the fighting started. First it was just minor arguments,

_Why are you out so late? Where did you go? You could have called home. I called your office, they said you had gone, where did you go?_

Then it got more serious. She could hear them outside her room door, going at the same problems again, only with different words and different tones. But they all meant and ended in the same way. They would just get tired, running out of things and insults to say to each other. Then they would just stop, and her dad would head to the guest room to sleep, like he had started to do since the arguing started. Gabriella had realized nothing could drown their voices out, until she had stumbled on an instrumental piece she had chosen to analyze for art history. Then all of a sudden she was warped into the world of instrumental music and band. She signed up for her school's band; she played her heart out and drowned herself in the music. She heard nothing but the music she made and lost herself in the group.

"Can I help you with something Miss?" a voice interrupted her. Gabriella jolted back to reality, not realizing she had been standing in front of the kid's music section for the past minute. She blushed,

"O-Oh sorry, um I was looking for...the soundtrack by the New York Orchestra..." she stuttered. The young man working at the music store grinned in amusement,

"I'm sorry you're going to have to be a bit more specific, the orchestra has a lot of soundtracks," the guy said. Gabriella giggled sheepishly,

"I actually don't know...the name. Um, it's supposed to be a soundtrack they recorded for a Broadway show...conducted by Troy Bolton?" she ended the description in a questioning tone. The guy in front of her smiled well naturedly,

"I think I know what you're talking about...I think," he teased. Gabriella laughed, following him to the back of the store where the classics were stored, he skimmed through the racks thoughtfully, murmuring to himself as his finger dashed across certain CDs, until he plucked one out,

"Here you go, New York Orchestra...Troy Bolton, Broadway OST, the only one they did I believe," the guy said and handed it to her. Gabriella accepted it gratefully with both hands,

"Thanks!" she said gratefully, "It would have taken me forever to find it,"

"I'll bet with you standing at the kid's section like that," the guy chuckled, making Gabriella blush, "Is there anything else you need help with..."

"Gabriella. Gabriella Montez," Gabriella introduced herself quickly, the guy gave her a quick smile,

"Anything else I can help you with then Gabriella?" he asked, Gabriella shook her head,

"No thanks for your help though...Ryan," she read his name tag. Ryan grinned, his dirty blond hair was spiky and his blue-grey eyes curving into a crescent smile,

"K well I'll see you whenever you feel like walking out of the store with that. I really hope you buy it, it took me a few brain cells for me to look for it," he teased,

"Is that your way of making customers buy your CDs?" Gabriella laughed,

"How'd you find out?" they shared a quick laugh before Ryan left her alone. Gabriella smiled thoughtfully, making her slow way to the front while intently reading the back of the CD. Unfortunately for her, multitasking wasn't exactly her best skill, so it was a second too late when she realized she had walked right into someone who was standing in her way,

"OH! Sorry-!" she apologized quickly looking up, only to get caught in a familiar pair of blue eyes.

Troy looked down at the person he had bumped into, still clad in his suit. He and Sharpay had arrived early and had walked down the red carpet with their signature smiles and poses. When Sharpay got into the theatre, she was immediately pulled away by congratulating reviewers and fellow actors, leaving him alone. After a few minutes, Troy snuck out to end up at the local music store.

"Sorry—Oh it's you again," he smiled, backing up to give the young girl some space. Gabriella blushed quickly,

"I'm so sorry sir! I don't really watch where I'm going when I'm reading..." she admitted in embarrassment.

"Like I said in class, Don't call me sir, it makes me sound as old as I feel," Troy chuckled. Gabriella had to look up with a small smile, her eyes skimming through his tall structure clad dashingly in a crisp clean suit. The costume looked tailor made to fit his broad shoulders and tone physique. His dirty blond hair was a sharp contrast to the dark suit, and his blue eyes shone out even more (if that was possible).

"_You are _not_ checking out your professor!"_ Gabriella mentally berated herself,

"So..." Troy began, seeing that she had dazed out on him. She couldn't help but chuckle seeing more red grace her cheeks, "Are you here buying CDs?"

"Uh y-yeah!" Gabriella said quickly, shoving the CD to him without realizing what it was really about. Again, she realized a moment too late when an amused smile graced Troy's face,

"I see...I hear this guy's pretty good." He said jokingly, Gabriella giggled, "I hope this isn't your way of kissing up to me, you know I appreciate it but I'm not really allowed to make marks like that..."

"N-No! I'm not, I mean, I was searching your name and I found out about this and thought I'd take a look!" Gabriella rambled. _"Great why don't I just shove another foot in my mouth?" _

"Researched?"

"I mean...I'm just going to...be quiet now." Gabriella sighed in defeat. She didn't know whether or not to be relieved or even more embarrassed when Troy chuckled even more, handing the CD back to her waiting hands,

"I'm joking, relax," he grinned, "Do I really look that scary? I mean I thought I was a pretty cool professor earlier in class today,"

"You are! I mean, you're really good," Gabriella said,

"So are you," Troy replied, Gabriella looked up, another blush on her face. One more time and her face would probably be hot enough to boil some eggs.

"I am? I mean...thanks, that means a lot to me sir," Gabriella said genuinely, smiling brightly. Troy couldn't help but smile back at her, her bright smile and happy tone contagious,

"Troy,"

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Troy." Troy repeated,

"Yes sir—"

"_T-r-o-y_" Troy emphasized again. Gabriella blushed,

"Thank you...T-Troy..." Gabriella stuttered,

"You're welcome, student." Troy replied. Gabriella stifled an amused laugh,

"Gabriella Montez," she said,

"Right, Miss Montez, flute player, middle seat right?" Troy remembered, Gabriella nodded, "Well Miss Gabriella Montez, it was nice seeing you again today."

"Yes sorry for bumping into you like that," Gabriella apologized again, Troy chuckled. As Gabriella made her way to the cash, Ryan was there already, looking at the computer. He grinned when she showed up, sparing the additional stranger a quick look as well,

"You're getting it, thank god," Ryan laughed. Gabriella giggled,

"I can't let your brain cells go to waste," she replied. As Ryan rang her purchase in, Gabriella made to reach for her wallet, only to see another hand pull out a credit card and handing it to Ryan. Gabriella turned around to see Troy paying for her purchase,

"P-Professor!" he glared at her, "I mean, T-Troy!" she corrected quickly, "I can pay for it!"

"No I insist, I know the conductor very well, and I'm sure he won't want a student paying to hear him conduct," Troy said with a small grin. Gabriella gapped at him as Ryan swiped the card looking curiously between the two of them,

"Here you go," Ryan handed the CD to Troy, who promptly handed it to Gabriella who accepted it gratefully,

"I'll pay you back," she said immediately. Troy shook his head,

"If you're really adamant on it, see me after class tomorrow, and I'll show you what you can do," Troy suggested. Seeing no other choice, Gabriella could only accept while holding the CD tight in her hands,

"Thanks Ryan," Gabriella added to the young cashier. Ryan grinned,

"See you soon,"

"Definitely," Gabriella grinned before she made her way out. The crowds were even thicker than when she first arrived, seeing as the red carpet event was well on its way. She sighed, it was going to take her forever to push her way through to get home,

"How are you getting back?" Troy asked,

"I walked," Gabriella replied. Troy frowned. It was going to be a ridiculous journey for a girl her age and size to go home, especially at this hour,

"Here, my car's this way," he motioned to his left.

"I-I can't! You already bought my CD you've done too much," Gabriella protested almost immediately,

"I insist. Besides, how can I let a student of mine walk home alone at a time like this?" Troy said in a scandalous voice. Gabriella wordlessly followed him as he walked up to a dark beamer parked on the side of the street. She got in hesitantly, gently closing the door as she buckled up. Troy got to the other side of her, igniting the engine. Her heart was thumping loud against her chest. She had never really gotten close to any teachers in the past before, so why now? Gabriella sat rigidly in her seat the car remained unmoving,

"You need to tell me where to go," Troy said, waiting patiently for directions. Gabriella snapped out of her dazed state,

"O-OH right! Um just...straight...and left on the first stop sign and...and I'll tell you where to go from there," Gabriella stuttered. Troy smiled, nodding as he pulled out of the road. He carefully drove through the crowd, the loud din of the noise from the red carpet dying behind him as he drove into the silence of the night. Occasionally he would sneak a quick peek at the young girl beside him, who sat stiffly, her brown eyes straight forward. Something about her amused him. Was it her inability to keep her blush down? Or was it the fact that she was so jittery and uncomfortably formal around him?

No. It was definitely the way she looked earlier today in class as they played their piece. Her brown eyes solely focused on the music in front of her, routinely glancing up to meet his eyes to keep time. Her look of fierce determination was what caught his eyes.

They got to the front of her house within 5 minutes as Gabriella carefully unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Thank you for the ride...and the CD." Gabriella thanked him once again. Troy waved the thanks away,

"I wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway," Troy said, "Enjoy the rest of your night Miss Montez, and I will see you in class tomorrow," he said. Gabriella gave him a big, true smile and nodded in confirmation. He sat in the car, watching her walk to the front door and taking her keys out. She opened the door, turned around and offered another small smile and wave before disappearing into the house. Troy grinned to himself as he made the first u-turn available. The phone in his suit pocket suddenly vibrated,

_From: Sharpay_

_Where are you? The show's almost finished._

Troy frowned. He took a glance at the clock to see that it was almost 10PM. He had left the party around 9:30PM; somehow, he had unknowingly spent 30 minutes with a student he had just met in class without him realising. Sighing, he made the drive back, knowing Sharpay would be demanding to know where he had gone, and he had no intention of telling her he had went to a local music store and had met a student. Grinning to himself, Troy made a mental note to himself to pay attention to a certain Miss Montez in the middle seat of the second row.

Back home, Gabriella skipped up the stairs, ignoring the beginning of yet another argument from her parents. She rummaged through her closet, pulling out her old CD walkman, and popped the New York Orchestra CD in, and plugged in her headphones. She got onto her bed, closing her eyes as the introduction began with the sound of tinkling bells and the deep rumbling of tubas and bass.

Her mind drifted to the image of a certain music professor conducting, his motions fluid, his eyes narrow in concentration...and directly meeting hers every single time she looked up. Gabriella drifted to sleep with the sound of climaxing violins and a crash of cymbals, Troy's soft conducting directing her to unconsciousness.

* * *

**A/N: I've just finished writing two term papers and wrote an exam. I am severely lacking sleep so I don't have the time to proofread, forgive me for any errors I'll have to go back and check later! **

**On a side note, for those of you who might think it's moving a bit too fast, sorry. I have no intention of dragging the story too long to show gradual development. Like I said, they're both adults in this story, and quite frankly I enjoy stories with instantaneous chemistry. It's just more dynamic that way :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Heat**

"_Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was?" Sharpay said coldly as she sat in the passenger seat of Troy's beamer. Troy stared forward, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "Troy, are you listening to me?"_

"_Yes I am,"_

"_What was I supposed to say to all those people when they asked where my _husband_ was, and I had no fucking clue?" Sharpay transferred her sharp brown eyes towards Troy_

"_Look, I didn't expect to be out for so long alright? And it didn't seem like you needed me there,"_

"_I'm your wife Troy, you're my husband. Is it so hard for you to support me in my job? Why does it seem like it's so hard for you to do that for your wife? Zeke had absolutely no problem staying with me the entire night." Troy exhaled sharply from his hose, his knuckles turning white,_

"_You're married to me, not Zeke." Troy said coldly,_

"_And it would be great if you could remember that once in a while," Sharpay replied. _

_The rest of the car ride home was in stark silence._

Troy shook the flashback from his head as he pulled into his parking lot. The morning after had been just as cold, if not colder. Sharpay had already left the house by the time Troy had gotten out of the shower without so much as a good bye. Troy had no idea whether or not he was to be concerned when he realized that he didn't spare another thought about it. It was just like he didn't spare a single thought about his failing marriage.

A failing marriage, because that was what it was.

Troy didn't know when it had started to fail…or if there really was a starting point. Somehow, at some point, it just became that way. It wasn't a failure in the sense that one of them had done something wrong. It wasn't like he had cheated, or she had cheated, in fact, they didn't spend enough time together to talk long enough, or be in each other's presence long enough to know whether or not their other half was being unfaithful. That was just it. They just didn't have time for each other.

The beginning was like any other normal relationship, or so Troy thought. Troy and Sharpay didn't get along from the start. He was just a beginner in the orchestra, and Sharpay an aspiring actress pose to grow big one day. They barely talked with one another; save for the occasional 'Hi' when one passed the other. When they finally started to say more than a word, it took Troy a few weeks to be comfortable to go beyond "Nice show".

On their first date, Troy's heart was pounding like crazy. He thought it was normal; after all, what guy wouldn't be nervous to the point of vomiting on his first date? With his palms sweaty, he had ringed Sharpay's doorbell. Their first date was a qualified disaster. Troy couldn't stop stuttering, their dinner plan was delayed because the restaurant messed up, and he ended up driving Sharpay home early. Troy tried to laugh it off, but he couldn't and neither could she. They both decided then that they would give the first date, a second chance.

It took a few more successful dates for them to begin to warm up to each other, and for Troy to feel the pounding of his heart sending tingles of excitement through his body. When they officially started dating, Troy was content with how things were; he had a fairly successful career as a musician, and he had a beautiful girlfriend that most guys would die to get with. Like the young, hormonal man he was, he had expected to be physically attracted to her, after all, who wouldn't be? Sharpay, being the actress and public figure she was, kept in excellent shape; porcelain white skin, sharp brown eyes, rosy red lips, and curves that dipped and filled in all the right places. Troy hadn't felt the attraction until a few months after they began dating, as he got to know her better.

They had only been dating for half a year, before Troy decided to propose to her. They were young and head over heels in love with each other… at least what they thought was supposed to be love. Troy was attracted to her and her to him, both physically and in personality. He enjoyed being in her presence, and sure they argued, but what couple didn't? Troy had heard before of the feeling of rushed adrenaline, and heated flame that would burn when one was to be together with someone they were truly in love with and attracted to. Troy didn't feel that rush with Sharpay, but he had dismissed that as pure fiction, after all, everyone's experience was different.

Their first year was just like any movie like marriage. It was a miracle to get either of them out of the bedroom for the first few weeks after they got married. After their honeymoon, Sharpay had a few auditions lined up, and Troy was beginning to look into the teaching profession. They returned home every night, and Sharpay would gush about her auditions, and Troy about potential job offers as well as his position in the orchestra. Their life looked perfect, her with her career poised to set off, and him with the start of a brand new journey; the fact that he was still involved in the band only reinforced Troy's idea that they were meant to be together, after all who else could say they had a job that _paid_ them to see their wife perform on stage?

But that was that. When their second year approached, they got more and more busy; Troy beginning his teaching at Julliard's, and assuming the position as the orchestra's conductor, and Sharpay becoming more and more well known. They no longer got home at the same time, one always later than the other, and always more tired. They couldn't talk about what they did, Sharpay was always reading lines, and Troy too busy with his composition. When they did sit together, it was to plan out a red carpet they had to attend, or to let the other know they were busy on which days. What little rush Troy had originally felt at the beginning, was ebbing down to the point where he didn't know where to look it for anymore.

Maybe it wasn't a failure…because to fail, there would have had to been a chance at success…and where was Troy to look for that?

* * *

When Gabriella walked onto campus the same morning, she was proud to say that she didn't look as lost as she did the first day. Her biology and chemistry classes were the same as the day before, and in order to keep her parents happy (and herself in school), she obediently listened attentively at lecture, taking down detailed notes. Aside from the readings she was required to do, Gabriella left the lecture with little to worry about. She had a few hours before her music class, and she would be able to use those hours to finish her readings.

After having been directed to the music building, Gabriella had decided that moment she walked in, it was going to be her new home…or at least the one place she will be in during her period at Julliard's. Her legs automatically took her to the building where she felt most at home, and she ordered herself a sandwich and salad. Gabriella looked around, trying to find a seat to sit in, only to find the small café filled with other students chattering away. Humming to herself, she attempted to find an empty spot, only to find herself in the studio where he class was supposed to take place.

"_Better here than nothing…"_ she thought to herself. She quickly settled herself in a corner of the room where she immediately pulled out her books, and plugged in her walkman. Since the night before, the CD she had bought—or rather Troy had bought for her at the CD store had not left her CD player, and thus her CD player had also not left her side since. The moment she heard the introduction to the song she could not get enough of it, and now it had become the first thing she listened to whenever she got the chance.

And of course it had _nothing_, absolutely nothing, to do with the fact that she could picture a certain blue eyed, professor conducting the band in passionate waves.

Gabriella took to her readings like she took to everything else; focused, concentrated and not willing to let anyone (or thing) get in her way. Time unknowingly slipped by as she soaked in her readings, so concentrated that she failed to realize she was no longer the only person in the room.

Troy walked into the music studio will full intent to get some of his notes and scores organized. He had not, however, expected an extra body in the room until his class started in an hour. His eyes caught a small figure by the corner, absorbed in her reading and ear phones plugged in. She seemed to be oblivious to the fact that she was not alone anymore. Troy let out a small smile, walking quietly towards her, his eyes catching the title of her book,

"_Chemistry? That's an interesting choice for someone being in an arts school._" Troy thought to himself. He was used to seeing his students enrolled in double majors or minors involving art, dance, or performing arts, but rarely did he see one enrolled in the sciences…after all you wouldn't go to Julliard's if you wanted to be a doctor.

"You know, at this rate I'm going to have to give you a better grade." Troy smirked as he announced his presence and stepping right in front of her. He chuckled when the brunette below him started suddenly, yanking her ear phones out of her ear. Gabriella stumbled up, her book falling from her lap,

"Sorry! I didn't expect anyone to be here!" Gabriella stuttered, heat rising from the bottom of her neck to her cheeks,

"Neither was I." Troy said back, "Chemistry?"

"It's…one of my classes," Gabriella answered,

"I figured as much…I just never figured a music student would be taking sciences…in an arts school."

"Yeah the things parents makes us do right…" Gabriella giggled sheepishly. She bent down quickly to gather the things that had slipped from her when she shot up. Troy knelt down to help, gathering her meticulously written notes,

"A walkman?" he raised his eyebrow. He didn't think he'd see one with a student,

"It's an old one," Gabriella said quickly, "For CDs…of course…" Gabriella could have smacked herself, of course it was for CDs!

"CDs? Don't tell me…" Troy started to chuckle, and Gabriella blushed again, this time sending a shaky glare at him,

"It is, I couldn't stop listening to it…"

"Now you're just making me feel guilty to give you free marks aren't you?" Troy teased as they both stood up, "Buying the CD, being in class early, and non stop listening to it, you're not helping with a professor's ego."

"You're not egotistical!" Gabriella gasped, but then she took a look at his teasing smile, and she glared at him again, this time full on. She crossed her arms, "Your jokes could use some work though,"

Now it was Troy's turn to fake a gasp, "There goes the free marks idea." Gabriella packed up her belongings as Troy made his way to his office that was linked into the studio, not sure where to go, Gabriella began making her way to the door,

"Where are you going?" Troy asked, Gabriella paused looking confused,

"Well class doesn't start until another good 45 minutes…I was going to go and I didn't want to bother you…"

"Who said you were a bother?" Troy asked. The event that took place the last ten minutes had managed to wipe whatever thoughts he had about his private life, and he had a good 45 minutes left before he could drown his personal life with his music class, "I told you there would be a way to repay me for buying your CD right?"

"Right…"

"Well then, come on," and Troy opened the door to his office, gesturing her to follow. Confused and not quite sure what was going on, Gabriella followed silently.

Troy's office could pretty much be labeled a qualified mess…_if_ 'mess' was a good word to describe what was going on in his office. His desk (or Gabriella assumed it was his desk) was covered by score sheets, some written on, some half written on, and blank ones that were crumpled beyond use. A Mac sat in the middle of all the chaos. His surrounding desks were also covered by stacks of score books that threatened to fall, and his wall littered with sticky notes.

"You do know that December 14, 2010 was last year right?" Gabriella scrutinized some of the dates on the sticky. She wasn't sure if she should be surprised to see some of the sticky notes dated two years ago. Troy, in the meantime, shuffled around his office, and dropped his bag off at the only chair that wasn't holding tipped over music books,

"Yes I do thank you very much," Troy replied sarcastically. Gabriella giggled, drawing his attention,

"I thought professors were supposed to be organized?" she asked,

"That's a stereotype,"

"Oh is it?" she teased, and it was Troy's turn to glare at her. Gabriella let out another tinkling laugh as she looked around the otherwise cluttered office.

"_Wait, Gabriella Montez are you…are you _flirting_?"_ her mind screamed at her. Gabriella swallowed hardly, _"No way, I'm just comfortable around him that's all…" _Maybe a bit too comfortable—but she wasn't about to go there.

"Well this is where you come in," Troy smirked, Gabriella started from her dazing out,

"Excuse me?"

"You said you'd repay me for buying you the CD right?"

"Right…as your maid?" Gabriella asked incredulously. Troy laughed. Not a teasing laugh, a full out, true laugh that rumbled from deep in his chest, and out his mouth and bounced around the walls. Gabriella couldn't help but be addicted,

"No!" Troy laughed, his chest falling up and down. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard, "As a secretary I mean…I have a lot to do already with running the class, and working with the orchestra, so as you can see things sort of…slip out. I just need help with organizing, clearly, and just helping to keep at least _this_ band in order."

"But to organize this…this…well I'm not sure what exactly this is," Gabriella gestured to the room, "doesn't that mean I have to clean it first?"

"Your words not mine," Troy smirked. Gabriella opened her mouth but closed it, unsure of what to say.

"Don't get me wrong!" Troy said quickly, "I'm not trying to blackmail you into doing this, if you don't want to you are completely free to say no and I won't hold a single thing against you. If you want to just pay me back for the CD that's completely fine, I don't want to make it like I'm pressuring you to do this."

"This…is going to take a lot of work," Gabriella mumbled to herself as her eyes surveyed the room. Troy blinked, did she not hear a single thing he said?

"Listen, Miss Montez, if you don't want to it's perfectly fine; I mean this would mean you're adding a lot more on your plate. It would probably require you to come early to class, or sometimes stay later than usual especially when the band has a performance coming up… and of course I'll be more than happy to write a letter of recommendation for anything you might be planning on applying this school year-"

"Gabriella,"

"Huh?" Troy said smartly, Gabriella looked up and smiled,

"My name's Gabriella professor,"

"Right…and my name's Troy," he repeated, "Did we not have this conversation yesterday?" Gabriella blushed,

"Right…I'd be happy to help out." Gabriella smiled, "I could use the extracurricular activity…" _"And more time away from home,"_

"Right well…" Troy trailed off. Beyond asking her if she was willing to help he didn't really expect to get started right away,

"Can I just…" Gabriella asked shyly, gesturing to the sheets that littered the room. Troy nodded quickly, pulling the chair that held his bag towards him. The duo fell into a comfortable silence, with Gabriella starting to organize the slew of papers from the desks lined up from the side of the room, while Troy remained at his main desk with his Mac. Gabriella would occasionally ask about a certain sticky note on the wall, whether or not Troy still needed it or not, and he would reply with a quick yes or a no. Slowly, they grew comfortable with each other's presence, and Troy got use to hearing her shuffling behind him, mumbling to herself.

Half an hour later, Gabriella had gotten to a point where she had given up asking him where certain folders were, or if she could use certain sections in the cabinet. She found herself growing at ease quickly, to the point where she would just look for folders and sheets herself, and Troy would automatically make way for her if she needed something on his table. Five minutes before class was scheduled to start, Gabriella had successfully cleared an entire desk so that Troy could now see the desk surface, and each score books were piled neatly according to date.

"Has anyone told you that you work miracles?" Troy looked at her work at awe. Gabriella blushed, but beamed at the compliment at the same time,

"These files," she gestured to the folders she had in her arms, "I'm going to have to sort through after rehearsals are over…"

"By all means go ahead, I'm going to end up staying late tonight," Troy said. There was no need to mention that he also wanted to make sure he and Sharpay didn't bump into each other should one be home before the other was asleep. As the two made their way back out to the studio, they could hear the rest of the band warming up. Hugging the files to her, Gabriella gave a quick smile before hurrying off, sliding her way through the second row to her seat in the middle where, from Troy's perspective, she was quickly engaged with a red head from the first row.

"Whoa what's that?" Kelsi gasped as Gabriella sat down with her files,

"Just some files from Troy," Gabriella said nonchalantly as she quickly assembled her flute,

"Wait, _Troy_? As in our professor Troy?" Kelsi said. Gabriella nodded, "I've been in under his conducting for two years and I still call him Mr Bolton, is there something you're not telling me?" Kelsi teased, her eyebrows moving up and down teasingly. Gabriella's blush flared on her cheeks,

"What? NO! Nothing like that! I'm just like his secretary, organizing files and helping him out, he's going to give me a letter of recommendation! It's just that!" Gabriella stuttered immediately, her mind firing out hundreds of excuses, Kelsi laughed,

"Relax Gabriella, I was just kidding, it wasn't like I was serious," Kelsi giggled, "He's married, of course I know it's nothing to what _you're_ thinking I'm referring to."

"He's married? I mean, of course he is…" Gabriella was slightly startled. Why hadn't she entertained the fact that he was married? Just because his profile on the orchestra's website didn't say anything didn't mean he was single! Of course he'd be married, why wouldn't he be? He was kind, funny, connects well with others, and not to mention easy on the eyes—_"Whoa there, going too far Gabriella,"_ she mentally chided herself.

As Troy approached his podium, and waved for their attention, Gabriella and Kelsi stopped talking and began their class. Gabriella watched, listened and played her best, drowning herself in her private world that was the combining sound of flutes, tubas and drums. But as Gabriella played her way through class, her eyes couldn't help but wander to his conducting and waving hands, where she couldn't catch a glimpse of a wedding band.

"_That doesn't mean he's not married,"_ her mind chided her. Gabriella took a deep breath, pausing while another section of the band took over. There was no reason why he wouldn't be married and absolutely no reason why Gabriella should care whether or not he was…

So why did she suddenly feel like a pit just grew in her stomach?

For the rest of the class, she couldn't look at Troy, and only resolved to look up every once in a while, choosing to focus intently on the sheets before her. If Troy noticed, he didn't show anything except constantly glancing at her direction.

* * *

"Hey do you want to grab something to drink?" Kelsi asked as their two hours of rehearsals finally ended. The class had erupted into plans for the weekends, or the onslaught of homework that were already piling up despite being the second day.

"Ah I can't, I have some things to do," Gabriella said apologetically, gesturing to the files that had remained under her chair for the duration of the class. Kelsi laughed,

"Right, Miss Secretary, oh this is just like those dramas, where the secretary and the boss are left alone after hours…" Kelsi trailed off with a suggestive wink. Gabriella glared at her friend,

"Kels! G-Get your mind out of the gutter!" Gabriella chided. Kelsi laughed,

"Relax, you're so tense today! And besides, you said it, not me." Kelsi giggled, "Well give me a call when you're free, I'm on campus all the time," Gabriella nodded, waving good bye to her as she left along with the rest of the class. No sooner had class ended, was the studio empty and quiet once again. Grabbing her bags and the files, Gabriella made her way silently to Troy's office, where he had gone after dismissal.

"_Wake up Gabriella! So he's married, he's a professor! Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"_ she thought to herself. She sighed, she was over thinking…again. Whether or not he was married was none of her business, especially not as a student, and someone whom he's met only a day ago.

Troy had disappeared back into his office after dismissal to get a head start on his work. For the entire class he couldn't help but notice Gabriella playing. Not that he heard her playing specifically, but he definitely noticed how she would look up and quickly look back down again, a stark difference from yesterday's practice, when she would look up almost constantly. Today, however, she remained focused on her music, and barely looked up to keep time. There were several times where if it hadn't been for the fact that her entire row had stopped playing, she would have continued on.

Of course, his observations were from a purely professional, professor's perspective…of course.

"Excuse me…Professor Bolton…" a timid voice came from his door. Troy turned around, in the middle of loosening his tie to see Gabriella poke her head through,

"Oh, Gabriella, come in," he said and she walked in, his files in her arms once more,

"Sorry I didn't want to just…barge in," Gabriella said carefully, timidly walking in, her body language completely opposite from when she had been in here two hours ago.

"It's fine, there's nothing really to hide…unless my organizing skills are that terrifying," he chuckled. Gabriella let out a small smile as she placed the files on the neatly cleared desk she had worked on just a couple hours ago. She quickly slipped into silence, opening each files to reorganize them to her liking. Her actions were more subdued, Troy noticed right away, limiting herself to the small area she had around her as if she had a bubble she was afraid to pop.

Gabriella was even controlling her breathing! As she went about organizing the music sheets by instrumental parts, she felt stiff, and out of place, completely different from earlier, when she had whirlwind through the office as if it was her own. There was nothing different! Nothing's different…except the fact that she now knows that he is married, and that she was in the room alone, with a married man.

But, there was no reason for her to feel this awkward! She had been in the same room with him for the better part of an hour; this was still Troy Bolton, still her professor, and still the same man who she had shared a room with prior without discomfort!

Even Troy was being careful, her stiff posture had somehow infected him, and he could hardly work without being sensitively aware of her presence behind him. He found himself looking towards her more often than not, seeing her meticulously organizing his sheets, or how she would try to shake her head to get rid of some stray strands of hair, or getting so fed up, her delicate fingers would grab a few strands and twirl it behind her ears.

For a good twenty minutes, they both worked in thick silence, one sending looks to the other without them realizing. Soon it became half an hour, and as Gabriella finished her pile, she scrunched up her nose, realizing something was amiss. At the same time Troy had snuck another look at her, and found her odd expression amusing and cute.

"Something wrong?" Troy chuckled. Gabriella jolted slightly, his voice breaking their silence,

"Um we're missing a section," she gestured to the piece she had been rearranging, "We're missing the third part for the brass section…"

"Are we?" Troy said curiously, standing up from his seat, he looked around with a lost expression, "We shouldn't be…I might be a slob, but I know to at least keep pieces in the same…area."

"Area?" Gabriella raised an eyebrow, Troy shushed her with a mock glare and Gabriella laughed, "I guess that's an accomplishment…" she set off looking around the room herself, deciding to take a look at the shelves hanging above her that also held a few loose sheets. Tippy toeing, her fingers grazed a few of the sheets poking out, frowning when she could see above a few binders,

"Having trouble?" Troy chuckled from behind her. He automatically placed a hand on the small of her back just in case she lost her balance as he used his height to his advantage to look through his binders. Gabriella's breath hitched, feeling his hand there. She prayed he didn't feel her tense up.

"I…I think I see it…there…" Gabriella stuttered slightly, stretching even further to grab a stack of sheets that bore the same name of the piece she was working on. At the same time, Troy reached for the same place, both their hands getting there at the same time. Gabriella squeaked, feeling his hands grope around hers, and she suddenly lost her balance. Reflex kicked in, and her hands grabbed at the binders from the shelf at an attempt to stable herself, only that didn't work out as well as she hoped for, because suddenly, they fell from the shelves.

Troy reacted automatically, and the hand he had on her back quickly curled itself around her petite waist, and pulled her away from the avalanche of binders and papers, and towards him. He turned them around so that his back was towards the binders, and she shielded beneath him. It took a few seconds for the last of the binders to fall, and the sheets to finally settle down.

"There goes all your work," Troy chuckled, looking down. Gabriella looked up, and they both froze, suddenly aware of how close they were.

Gabriella stopped breathing all together. She could feel his arms around her waist, and the warmth that emitted from his body being pressed against hers. His breath left wisps of air on the top of her head, that made her light headed and tingly at the same time. His cologne attacked her senses, and all she could do was look up where his blue eyes were boring down on hers. Her heart picked up, and she suddenly felt a rush of heat that washed over her body and set the sensitivity of her nerves on high, and her whole body aching.

Troy looked down, suddenly enraptured in her dark brown eyes. He had done what his instincts had told him to, and quickly pulled her to him. But the moment he spoke, his senses had awoken, and he suddenly became painfully aware of the second body being pressed against him. It was as if all the nerves in his body were alight in a fire, not missing a single detail of the young body pressing against his. Without having moved his hold on her, he could feel the shape of her body on his, and it sent his heart racing, and his body on fire with a rush of heat that coursed through his veins…he had never felt this rush before…or rather he had never felt this rush this strongly. He looked down, his body suddenly aching with heat and a desire that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Gabriella and Troy looked at each other, and for a second, all they felt was heat.

* * *

**A/N: How's that for sexual tension? ;) I'm half way through exams, so I apologize for the late update. I just completed two exams, and am in preparation for my last two. Thanks for reading, and please review!**

**Again, I will remind everyone that both Troy and Gabriella are adults, and that I am writing this story with a very fast paced. Don't expect chapters upon chapters on Gabriella being giddy on her feelings, and Troy being stubborn in denial. They are both adults, and are definitely well aware of what they are feeling and the levels of attraction. If you feel they are moving too fast, sorry, but instant chemistry = dynamic romance = more fun!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Deliciously Dangerous**

* * *

Gabriella swore time had stopped the moment their eyes had connected. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest, and she could hear the rushed sound of her uneven breathing as she breathed in Troy's scent. But if she was breathing…why was she so light headed? The moment she blinked it was like the spell was broken, and everything suddenly fast forward. She nearly tripped as she yanked herself away from him, his arms breaking away from her waist. She had expected her body to cool down, but she didn't expect to feel the burning sensation to remain on the place where his arms had held her. Suddenly the room felt all too hot, and Gabriella looked at everywhere but in front of her.

Troy coughed, straightening up as Gabriella broke from his hold. He watched from the corner of his eyes as her eyes fluttered around the room, her cheeks flushed with a warm red. He had felt goose bumps flare down his arm and a shudder run through his spine. The inside of his body felt like it was on fire, fire that coursed through his veins and burned through his nerves, and yet he felt cold. If he had tried to unclench his teeth, he was certain it would be chattering. What was this burning cold feeling? And why on earth did it make him ache as if he wanted it back?

"Are-Are you ok?" Troy finally took the courage to break the silence. He inwardly swore when his voice shook as much as he was shivering inside. Gabriella nodded quickly,

"Y-Yea, I'm fine." Gabriella said quickly, her breathing erratic. She fought the urge to fan herself, her cheeks were aflame and if she thought any harder she could have sworn beads of sweat were making their way down her neck. "I-I should fix this," she ducked down, hoping to escape his watch. But no such luck. Troy swooped down at the same time in an attempt to help and elevate the heated and awkward situation, but the moment they swept down, it was like static had filled the room, and when their hands actually brushed against each other, Gabriella literally shot up rigidly.

"Maybe we'll leave it for later. It's getting late," Gabriella said robotically. The air in the room was suffocating her, and she needed to get out. Troy nodded in agreement. He stood like a rock watching Gabriella dash around and hastily grabs her bag and her flute case as she flung the door opened. Gabriella took a deep breath as the cool air washed through her body, cooling her flushed face.

"Wait Gabriella," Troy walked out of his office and froze Gabriella on the spot, she turned around stiffly, "It's late, I'll give you a ride,"

"NO!" Gabriella squeaked, Troy paused, "I-I mean, no, it's ok, I-I can take the bus."

"But-"

"I have to go, my parents…" Gabriella left the sentence at that, trailing off before she shot out the door. Troy looked at the empty spot that previously held Gabriella before he slowly made his way back into the office; he crashed down onto his chair, and held his forehead in his hand.

"_What the hell is wrong with you? She's a student for god sakes!"_ his mind screamed at him. Troy closed his eyes as the warm buzzing feeling was still there, but not enough to cloud his thoughts. He couldn't get the look of her eyes staring into his out of his head, and the feel of her body pushed up on his, and the heat that transferred from her to him in that single moment. He opened his eyes to feel a familiar aching in his body again as he stood up and left his office, putting the mess to the back of his mind.

He needed to get home, and take a long and very, _very_ cold shower.

…

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Gabriella groaned as she continuously hit her forehead on the bus window. She could care less about the stares she was getting from other students and bus riders. Why she was hitting her head on the frosty window at the back of the bus was her own business! What on earth had possessed her to just freeze like that? He was her professor for god sakes! But the moment couldn't be any clearer in her mind. She could still feel the ghostly hint of his arms around her waist even now, and the air the came through the bus vent brushed across the crown of her head, just like his breath had been. Every breath she took she could smell the lingering smell of his cologne, because they had been _that_ close to each other.

And that rush of heat that coursed through her body when they had been inches apart; the heart pumping, adrenaline rushing, light headed rush of heat that sprang from nowhere and devoured her entire being, it was frightening, and addicting at the same time. Gabriella was shocked by it, but she wanted it all at the same time.

Don't get her wrong, she wasn't oblivious to what she was feeling. She may be studious, but she wasn't naive and she was far from innocent to the types of attraction. She hadn't felt that type of heat and rush in her veins since her previous boyfriend, and the first person she had ever slept with. They had gone out for a good three years in high school when during Prom, Gabriella had stayed over at his house, and they slept together. Of course her parents were completely oblivious to what she had done. Even now Gabriella could remember that night; the rush, the heat, the feel of their bodies sliding against each other, their fumbles as they spent their first time together.

They broke up after graduation, when Gabriella was accepted to Julliard's, and he to Stanford. Neither spoke of what had happened the night of prom; but the feeling she had felt back in the office was easily ten times more than what she had felt the night she gave her virginity away; the way it had consumed her, and settled at the bottom of her belly, sending an ache through her body.

When Gabriella opened her eyes again, she realized she was near her stop, and that her entire body had heated up all over again. She pushed the button to be let off at the next stop; a cold walk back home could do her some good.

Attraction was a dangerous thing.

…

When Troy returned home that night, his house was quiet, dark and silent. He slowly walked up the stairs where the door to his and Sharpay's bedroom was slightly ajar. He could hear slow breathing coming from inside, and he knew that she was home. He slowly grabbed his clothes from the closet, before heading out to the guest bathroom. He didn't need her to be woken up and start another arguing match.

Not right now.

Troy stripped down, and stepped into his shower and the first thing he did was turn the knob to 'Cold', the jets of water turning ice cold. His body erupted in goose bumps, and he took a deep breath forcing his teeth to not chatter. The tightening in his guts slowly loosened as Troy finally decided it was enough, and slowly turned the water back towards the warmer side.

This was dangerous territory he was treading on. As the water beat down his neck and back, he leaned against the wall, hitting his head on the tiled walls. This was so wrong in so many ways.

She was his student.

He was married.

And god the rush he felt through his veins, the adrenaline, the fire, it was like a drug. He felt it, he knew it was wrong, but he wanted _more_.

Troy groaned when he realized the twisting in his guts had returned, and the nerves in his body were starting to ache with want again. Every time he closed his eyes he could feel the shape of her body, the smell of her hair, the shallow and erratic breaths that ghosted against the bottom of his neck. Troy immediately reached for the knob, and twisted it to cold. He let the cold jets of water stream down his body, and waited for him to completely cool down before he stepped out of his shower.

Troy made his way silently to his bedroom, where he slipped into his side of the bed, the dip barely registering with Sharpay's sleeping figure. Troy paused, before he slowly turned to his side, facing Sharpay's back. He gingerly reached over, and curled his left hand under her body and around her flat stomach, and his right hand reached over and slowly pulled her towards him. They hadn't 'cuddled' since the early stages of their marriage. When he felt Sharpay's back touch his, he tightened his grip. He could feel her shuffle in his arms, unaccustomed to being so close while sleeping. Troy closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths.

Her body shape felt different from the last time he had held her like this. The curves more defined her stomach firmer, her body toner. He held her like this for a few minutes before he opened his eyes, and his grip loosened. Sharpay unconsciously shuffled herself out of his grasp, and Troy turned onto his back, closing his eyes once more, this time his entire body felt heavy.

No matter what, it just wasn't the same.

* * *

_Gabriella hummed as she felt a ghostly touch slide down the side of her shoulder, tracing dip of her waist and the rise of her hips. The touch stopped right at the height of her hip, and the hand splayed flat onto her side, massaging her yet barely there. She slowly opened her eyes where bright white greeted her eyes. She wanted to stretch, but realized she was now be held by something-or someone by her waist. She looked down to see a hand splayed across the flat of her stomach before she realized she was not wearing a single piece of clothing. The bed spread under her body felt like silk, sliding across her body without effort._

"_Are you awake?" a deep voice rumbled from behind her. The person holding her drew her closer, and her back met his, their body warmth colliding. Gabriella hummed again, sighing as she released a breath. Her body tingled as his hands traveled up and down her bare stomach, coinciding with the stream of instrumental music that suddenly came out of nowhere. A pair of lips appeared next to her ear, humming to the tune of the music playing around her, and Gabriella shivered, feeling his moist breath graze her ears, and she unconsciously licked her lips,_

"_I hate it when you do that." The same deep voice said again, as his lips met the back of her ear, sending tingles down her body. Gabriella shifted her body, never escaping his grasp and turned around to face the man who had been holding her. Her eyes snapped wide opened when she was met with a pair of shocking blue eyes._

_The music around her rose to a climax with a crash of cymbals._

Gabriella's eyes snapped opened as she shot up from her bed. The thin camisole top she was wearing stuck to her body from the light sheen of sweat from her body. Gabriella quickly yanked the earphones out of her ears that had been playing the music she had heard in her dreams. She remembered putting them in as her parents started yet another ritual shouting match downstairs, and she had probably fallen asleep without turning it off. Breathing hard, Gabriella looked down at her walkman, to see the New York Orchestra CD playing in her walkman. She stopped the CD and put her walkman away as she fell back onto her bed.

Her chest heaved up and down heavily as she closed her eyes, recalling her dream. It had been so vivid, so clear and so…so _real_. She swore she had actually felt a hand running down the side of her body, and air blowing against her ears. It had been a few days since the 'incident' in Troy's office. After what had happened, Gabriella had busied herself with her other classes, and when she had music, she made sure she was in conversations with Kelsi. Her friend had looked at her weirdly, but accepted her need for a distraction without question. Gabriella was always the first to leave the room after her practice, completely forgetting (or rather trying not to think) about the fact that she had promised to help out with Troy's organizing.

It was also during those few days that those kinds of dreams had become more and more frequent.

She slowly opened her eyes hazily as her breathing slowly became normal, and her heart rate slowed down. She looked to her side and her clock read 7AM and sighed. There was no way she was going to go back to sleep now. As she slowly got ready, she glanced at the still CD in her walkman…there was no way she was going to be able to listen to that now.

…

Troy was beginning to think he was about to save himself a lot of money in his next hydro bill. He was, once again, stuck in a cold shower as he hit his forehead, again, on the tiled war.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he having these kinds of feelings? Why _those_ particular kind of feelings of all things? To _her_ of all people!

He had snapped awake after a particularly…alluring dream, and he had to get out of bed before Sharpay woke up. This wasn't the first time he's had to take a cold shower in the morning in secret. In fact, after what had happened, and his rush of heat in the office, he had made it a mission to look at a certain Gabriella Montez as platonically as possible; as a student, and nothing more. He had even stopped asking her to come by his office to help with filing, because god knows what he would do or think if they were in the same room again.

"_Snap out of it Troy Bolton. You're not a teenager anymore!"_ he mentally berated himself. No he wasn't, and yet his hormones were raging just like a teenage boy in puberty. He decided that he needed to get into work early, and perhaps drown himself in a few hours of paperwork before he had to face the rest of his day.

Yep, paper work, because he needed _something_ to think of before his last class, with her.

…

…

"Stop, stop, stop!" Troy shouted. The entire band stopped for the fifth time as Troy ran his hand angrily through his hair, his blue eyes alight with a fire as it swept through the master score in front of him, "How many times do I have to say this, percussion, you need to _keep_ the beat! Don't run with it, if you can't keep up _follow me_." He directed his fiery glare at the back row.

"Clarinets, saxophones, you both play the same harmony do you not?" Troy turned his glare to his front row, and the two rows of saxophones, "I want to hear _one_ sound, not 50 of you, **one**. And flutes!" he turned his stare to the middle row, his eyes automatically landing in the middle, where a certain brunette sat, her eyes trained on him. Again, their eyes met, and he watched it swivel from him and onto the floor. For some reason it made his heart pump, and the fire stronger,

"I asked for this part to be learned by now, _why_ is it not?" he asked in a deep and quiet voice. The middle row shook with silence, "I was expecting more from you. You guys are _adults_, and I will not baby you and hold your hand along the way. At this rate, how on earth do you expect to go to Europe?" As expected, his minor outburst caused a ripple of interested whispers as his eyes swept through the crowd. Troy automatically landed on the middle row again, as he watched Gabriella's eyes widened, and swooping up to meet his again, this time with a spark in keen interest. He had to hold in a smile,

"Yes Europe. We've been invited to perform at an opening ceremony, but right now it doesn't feel like we're ready to even play in the middle of Time Square," Troy said as he surveyed his group,

"Now, from the top, and I better get a whole lot better than what I just heard if you want the forms for the trip."

Another hour of slave driving conducting later, the group in the studio left with some slightly more light headed than when they had first entered the studio. Troy himself walked off his podium after gesturing half heartedly to the forms by the table next to the door before disappearing into his office with Gabriella's eyes following his every movie,

"I've never seen him so…intense." Kelsi said in a slightly breathless voice. As a first Clarinet, Kelsi had also shouldered the pressure from Troy, and the young woman's voice was slightly hoarse as she downed the remaining half of her water bottle.

"Really? I wonder why…" Gabriella questioned to herself as she slowly packed her things. The back of her mind kept nagging her, as it had been days since she had last spoke to her professor, and yet here she was, wondering what was troubling his mind.

"He seems upset…or at least distracted by something. Do you know?" Kelsi suddenly asked, looking at her. Gabriella started,

"N-No, why would I?"

"Well you seemed pretty close to him during the first few days, weren't you his secretary or something?" Kelsi asked, Gabriella nodded mutely,

"I…I'm not sure…" she said slowly. She left out the fact that since the second day of school, she had not spoken, and had actively avoided him since. When Kelsi finished packing her stuff, she bade Gabriella a quick goodbye, citing a private practice she couldn't miss, leaving Gabriella in the studio alone. It had been a long time since she had been the last person leaving the studio, and as she silently packed her stuff, she glanced at the office door that remained slightly opened, wondering if she should go in. Biting her lip, and swallowing the swell in her belly she gets every time she even thinks about being in the same room as him, she made her way cautiously to the door.

In his office, Troy groaned to himself as he held his head in his hands.

This was ridiculous. He could feel the burning frustration in his body. It was as if the fiery monster inside him was demanding to be let out, for it to charge out and find the person who could quench it's thirst, and every time Troy's sight line landed on that person, he could feel the monster bubbling to be let out, and Troy had to force it back, which only added to his bad mood. For days, he had tried his best to ignore the burning he gets whenever he sees her, but it was like trying to pull at an elastic band. The further he pulled the thinner it stretched from the centre hold, and it felt like it was about to either be snapped back, or snap completely. Troy took in another shuddering breath. It was OK, once he got everything organized, he would leave, completely uninterrupted and go home.

"U-Um…Professor?...Troy?" said a small voice from the door.

Shit.

Troy turned in his chair, and his eyes met Gabriella's form standing by the door. Her hair was tied up, with ringlets of loose curls framing her face. Her flute case was in her hand, and her cheeks were still red from the hardcore practice Troy had led in response to his pent up frustration.

"Yes?" he hoped his voice didn't sound as shaky as he felt.

Gabriella took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. _"This isn't right, this is wrong. He's married. He's your professor. And God it's hot in here…"_ she repeated her mantra in her head as she tentatively stepped inside,

"I-I just wanted to see if you were ok…and if you needed help?" Gabriella said softly. Troy looked at her with curiosity, "It's just that you looked really stressed and pulled thin and I did say I was going to help. I'm sorry for not helping the last few days…" and she left the sentence trailing. Troy coughed,

"Oh, well, you aren't obligated, when I asked I wasn't expecting you to be here every day," he said in a calm voice,

"But I promised to help…and the trip seems really important and…well I really want to go," Gabriella admitted sheepishly. Troy let out a chuckle, a genuine, non frustrated chuckle, the first in days.

"If you really do want to go…I really just need to sort out the final itinerary and required outline for the school board." He gestured to the different sets of papers on his desk. Gabriella nodded, dropping her bag and case on the floor as she made her way over.

"_See, he's perfectly fine. You're the one imagining things. Don't make things awkward," _her mind chided her. Gabriella couldn't help but take note of his relaxed posture on the chair, and the way he had so easily invited her in to help. It was all in her imagination, Gabriella thought to herself, the heat, the rush, the ache, he was her professor, she his student, of course he wouldn't be feeling this…this attraction!

Troy had to hold his breath as she walked closer. The minute she was within range, he could already feel the change in the air, the heaviness in his body. When she leaned down, and pushed a few stray strands of hair aside, it felt as though the pit of his stomach had fell, and his guts twisted and twitched uncomfortable. Troy coughed, and shuffled in his seat. It took him a few seconds to register that Gabriella was trying to call for his attention.

"T-Troy…Troy…Professor…?" Gabriella tried again. She gulped when it looked like he had stopped day dreaming, and his eyes snapped to her. "T-The, um the part here, you might w-want to um, to…" she trailed off, her throat suddenly feeling dry.

"To what?" Troy asked quietly, never taking his eyes off her. Gabriella felt a shiver down her spine; his voice tickled her ears, and pulsed through her veins. It sounded so deliciously close to the voices she's been hearing in her dreams.

"T-To…the line…for the school...wh-what we're do-doing…" Gabriella's brain could no longer form any type of coherent sentence of phrases. They had unknowingly begun to lean close to each other, until Gabriella could feel his moist breath attacking her already warm cheeks. Her brain was already clouded, her entire body tingling and highly sensitive.

Troy looked at her, her eyes looking suddenly dazed, and her cheeks flushing red. Her breathing was erratic again, puffing out short irregular breaths that he could taste on his lips. She was so, so deliciously close…

"We're doing what?" Troy said again, this time more quietly, in barely a whisper. The air from his mouth floated out and towards Gabriella.

Gabriella tried to respond, but her throat was already dessert dry, and a large lump was blocking her throat. With her lips suddenly dry, Gabriella's tongue darted out quickly, attempting to send some sort of ability to make some sort of noise,

And that was Troy's undoing.

The elastic in his body snapped, and the burning monster in him was freed. Like a dying fire, it was as if new fuel had suddenly be introduced, and the fire raged and roared at it, growing larger than it ever did. Troy could feel himself snap at that moment, and abandoned his thoughts without a care. His actions acting faster than he could think, his hand shot out, and found itself pressed against the back of Gabriella's neck. The next thing he knew, he pushed, their lips met.

Gabriella barely had a time to let out a noise as she felt her lips meet his, and all of a sudden it was as if there was a flash, and her mind became blank. The burning she had felt ignited and devoured her body and what was left of her sanity. The small part of her brain (and let her mention that it was a _very_ small part) fought for what was left of her ethics, and she struggled slightly, a small mumble leaving her busy lips. Troy's hand tightened around her neck, stopping her meek struggles and his lips pressed even harder against hers, his monster completely taking over as his tongue darted out and swept across her bottom lip.

Gabriella gasped at the feeling, unwittingly opening her mouth, allowing Troy to dip his tongue into her warm cavern. Then the battle began.

Gabriella's last shred of sanity disappeared as her arms found its way around his neck, tightening its hold similar to the hold he had on her neck. Shivers ran down her neck as his tongue brushed against hers, and she let out a mix between a small moan and a squeak. Troy pulled away, his eyes lidded and mind cloudy as he looked at her hard breathing, and flushed cheeks. There was barely a second before Gabriella had pulled him towards her once more, attaching their lips.

Troy stood up, never separating their connection and making Gabriella stand with him, nearly making her stand on the tip of her toes to keep their contact. Troy turned slowly, directing her so that she now faced the edge of his table. His hands found her waist, and he gripped it, and lifted her up, placing her so that she sat at the edge of his table, her feet dangling from the floor. He pushed even further, so that his body was situated between her legs.

Troy groaned as he leaned down, his left hand never leaving her neck, his right hand stayed at her waist, and began its trail up and down tracing her curves. Gabriella shivered, both from the movement from his hand, and from his tongue. She bravely slipped her own tongue into his mouth, and traced his teeth, earning another groan from him as he pulled her closer to him, so that their bodies touched every time either of them made a move.

Feeling her move, Troy took the advantage of having her tongue nearby, and he bit it softly, sucking on it. He felt her hand tighten on his hair, and grunted when she pulled on it at his sudden move. Troy pulled away as air became an issue, but the heat of the room, and the heat from each other had blurred their minds, and not a second later, Troy attached his lips to her jawbone, skillfully making his way down the side of her neck. Gabriella gasped, feeling the cool trail as she turned her head away, giving more skin for Troy to explore. Gabriella gasped again, feeling his hand riding up and down her waist, before finding the hem of her shirt, and his heated skin met hers. She squirmed, unintentionally brushing against Troy's own heated body.

Troy could feel her throat vibrate from her every squeak and gasp, and he kissed, licked and sucked his way down until he met the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He kissed until he found her pulse, and he sucked at that spot,

"O-Oh…umhh…" Gabriella gasped when he felt her hit her sensitive spot. Her hands acted on impulse and she pulled his head closer to her neck. Hearing her reaction, Troy sucked even harder, making her to squirm further in his hold. His control over her sensitive spot made her weak all over, Gabriella could barely support herself sitting on the table. It didn't even register in her mind that what had happened was going to leave a mark. All she was interested in was getting his devil of a mouth, back onto hers.

And that was exactly what she did, as she pulled him back up from her neck, and crashed her lips against his again. The battle for dominance raged as her tongue fought his. Troy's hand dipped under the hem of her shirt, drifting across her flat stomach, and up her waist where he gave it a quick squeeze, getting another squeak from her. Gabriella's right hand removed itself from the tangle in his hair as it drifted down his back, tracing his flexing muscles as it reached the belt of his jeans. Her hands trailed towards the front, where it left barely a trace over his abs, before reaching his belt buckle. Troy bucked automatically, his guts twisting at the light and foreign touch.

Somewhere in between the heat, a foreign ringing interrupted the fogs in their mind. For a second, Gabriella ignored it, choosing to focus on the tongue that was making her deliciously crazy. But as the ringing continued, the fog in her brain began to clear, and she stopped, pulling away, her breath coming back to her in hard gasps.

Shit. _"Shit…Shit…SHIT!"_ her mind screamed as Troy pulled back, breathing almost just as hard.

"I-the phone, I have to…I got to…" Gabriella stuttered, she scrambled off the table, her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to pick up her bag. Troy groaned, running his hand through his hair,

"Gabriella!"

"I have to go!" Gabriella said, she shot out the door, Troy closely following her.

"Gabriella wait!" Troy shouted, but she had disappeared down the hall, and turned the corner. "Damn it…" Troy groaned, leaning against the wall on the corridor. What the hell possessed him to do that? He could feel her soft skin beneath his fingers, and her gasps, and moans and squeaks that echoed in his ears and became implanted in his brain. He had had a taste of the drug, and now, he wanted more.

From the corner, Gabriella leaned on the wall, willing her heart to calm down. The phone ringing had been her wake up call, if it hadn't, she didn't dare to think how far it would have gone. Her eyes opened, watching as the sun outside the window slowly dipped and night fell.

She definitely didn't dare to even start to wonder if she would have stopped it if it went too far.

It was dangerous…deliciously dangerous.

Attraction was most definitely a dangerous thing.

* * *

**A/N: Hot. :) I feel the need to bring attention to the fact that this story is Rated M for Mature. As in, if you are uncomfortable with sexual references and situations, or are simply not of age, you have been warned. I will be giving warnings at the beginning of the chapter should it contain scenes not suitable for younger ages or those who are uncomfortable.**

**On a side note, you didn't think I'd have them sleep together **_**this**_** early did you? Tsk tsk. ;) Drop a comment to let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Control**

* * *

By the time Gabriella shot down the stairs and out into the breezy night, her mind was already swirling and light headed, and her entire body felt claustrophobic. Torrents of emotions and feelings were crashing and fighting inside her, and she felt as though her body was about to explode from the pressure of containing them all inside. Even at night, the Julliard campus was beautiful, with tall trees artfully distributed creating a scene of serenity.

Gabriella had been unaware of how long she had actually been in the office with Troy. Try as she might, all she could remember was the feel of his desk beneath her, and his lips on hers. The way his hands travelled and traced the shape of her body, the way their tongues brushed against each other and fought for dominance, the way the electricity coursed through her body and her veins and out of her finger tips as if transferring to him. She couldn't remember anything but how she had felt, his hands reading her like Braille, their breaths mixing together, and the sheer rush of pleasure that coursed through her body like a drug. How her mind was so clouded, that she would not have given a single thought or question should it-had it-gone any further.

His touch, the adrenaline, everything he did brought out the desires she's had hidden inside her. It made her hunger for it all the more.

"_No, this is wrong! He's married! You're his student!"_ the ethical side of her shouted in her mind. She closed her eyes, her body having memorized the way he had touched her. It was no use. No matter how reasonable her mind was, her body instincts were easily overpowering it. She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had just let her phone ring; just let it ring, and let them continue on in their own worlds.

She wondered what he was thinking.

She wondered if he thought of it as a mistake…or if he too was already addicted to the near forbidden temptation that was the human desire.

Gabriella straightened up as she began her walk to catch the bus home. She trained her eyes forward, she couldn't look back. She just couldn't, because she could not guarantee herself to be strong enough to not go back, and just see if Troy felt the same way she did.

…

That night, when Troy got home, Sharpay had dinner ready, waiting at the table. He disregarded the usual less than warm welcome and their silence during dinner. It was all normal to him, all a part of his daily life. The small responses, the cool looks, the silence, the unknown that hung between him and his wife of three years, they were all normal to Troy, such so that he no longer batted an eyelash, or reacted to it anymore.

The way his heart rushed during dinner, or the way Sharpay's brown eyes would catch his, and he would suddenly see it a different shade, or how his fingers would brush against the table cloth, and he would remember the way her shirt had felt in his hands as he slipped his hand past it to touch the hidden skin under it; the rush, the heat, the desire, those were something completely new to Troy. Something he had not felt this strongly, ever.

Troy wasn't sure of this feeling. He couldn't say that it was affection, because he couldn't say that he was developing feelings for his student. But he could not deny that he was attracted to her, temptingly so. He was attracted to the way her eyes looked when they were half lidded and muddled, the way her breaths came out in erratic puffs when something sent her heart buzzing and racing. The way her body called to his like no others, and the way his body reacted in response.

It was the most basic human instincts, the closest humans had to having animalistic desires.

It wasn't love, but love couldn't bring out the desires he never thought he possessed like he had now.

"The company's having me do a few press conferences in France," Sharpay's voice interrupted Troy's train of thought, drawing him back to reality. He looked up from the steak he had spent the last few minutes staring at, looking across the long rectangular table at Sharpay who sat across from him,

"Sorry?" Troy repeated. If Sharpay was annoyed she didn't show it. Perhaps one could say that this had become such a regular occurrence, that she had become skilled at hiding her annoyance. Instead, she cut another small piece of meat, and chewed at it thoughtfully,

"I'm going to be heading to France in two weeks for a few days," she said,

"When was this decided?"

"A few days ago,"

"And within those few days you didn't think you needed to talk to me about this?" Troy asked, unable to keep the hint of steely coldness in his voice. Sharpay looked at him with her sharp brown eyes, very much unlike the ones he had been staring into just a few hours prior in his office,

"Would it have mattered?" Sharpay asked breezily,

"You don't think I'd need to know that my _wife_ is going to be half way around the world for a few days? You could have at least came home and discussed it with me,"

"Like the way you talk about your compositions and your time with the orchestra, or the Julliard's orchestra? Or how you were invited to open at one of the more prestigious shows in Europe?" Sharpay asked her knife and fork having lain down long ago.

"That's completely different," Troy said,

"How is it different?" Sharpay asked casually, "The only difference is, I already made up my mind, and I will be going and will be leaving. This is my job Troy; I have an obligation to my job,"

"You also have an obligation to this marriage," Troy responded sharply. He had touched a nerve, because Sharpay had paused, her eyes narrowing,

"An _obligation_?" Sharpay repeated softly, "Right, because you clearly have your weight put into this marriage don't you Troy? You spend most of your time holed up in that office or yours, or working with the band more than you are at home. You treat those _students_ more like your wife than I am, and you're talking to me about obligation? Troy Bolton don't you dare question _me_ about obligation."

"Don't make me into the person being at fault here," Troy shot back, "What about you? When was the last time you were home for a _full_ day? It's either rehearsals, or having a run through with lines, or having to rehearse with Zeke, or practice with Zeke or costume fitting with _Zeke_"."

"Do not bring Zeke into this!" Sharpay exploded, "He has nothing to do with this!"

"He has _everything_ to do with this!"

"We are not having this conversation," Sharpay said coldly, she stood up, the remaining of her dinner clearly forgotten, "I am just informing you that I will be preparing for my trip to France, as you will be preparing for your trip to Europe with your band."

"Oh thanks for informing me. Should I make an appointment with your people if I need to talk to you?" Troy said sarcastically. Sharpay paused, and for a second Troy thought he saw her shoulder shudder before she continued and disappeared into the kitchen.

Troy shut his eyes, leaning back in his chair. He knew the last comment had been uncalled for, but it had slipped out before he could catch it. But he couldn't help it, he was so frustrated! He knew he loved his wife…or at least he knew he started off loving his wife.

But now, Troy doubted he even knew what love was anymore. He didn't know what he had with his wife anymore. And all the while, the bubbling bouts of desire that had been unleashed by a certain brunette student remained beneath his surface, and the longer he thought about it, the stronger it became.

Maybe this break between him and Sharpay would be a good thing. Good for them to look at things from a different perspective.

* * *

For the next several days, Troy and Gabriella threw themselves into their respective studies. If they passed each other it was a courteous nod, or a respectful smile, but never more than that. They brushed past each other like it meant nothing more. But Gabriella could no longer meet his eyes without thinking back to the way he had looked at her that made her body flushed all over. And Troy could no longer speak to her without hearing the way her voice had disappeared replaced with the soft gasps that he elicited from her from his touches.

Gabriella was determined to throw herself in all her studies. If she wasn't in class, she was in the library catching up on readings and doing research for her classes. If not, she would be meeting up with Kelsi, where they would run through every single piece they had for their orchestra. It got to the point where Kelsi began to worry for her friend's health, and quite frankly her sanity. Gabriella was all but insanely concentrated. She didn't leave her studying or practicing unless she needed to go to the washroom, or if Kelsi was insisting that they go get something to eat, or drink before Gabriella collapsed from exhaustion.

Gabriella couldn't help it. For days, the pulsing desire remained locked in her body without a way out, and she didn't know what to do with the energy it gave her, and she sought her studies as an outlet. She focused on her energy into studying, reading and practicing. In music class, her mind was wrapped completely around the notes that danced on her page, and the tune that came out of her flute. In quick succession, Gabriella became one of the best flautists in her class.

Troy threw himself into his music, composition and conducting. After the conversation at the dinner table, the topic of the trips to Europe and France became an unspoken wall between them. If Troy wasn't working on new compositions, he would be listening and re-listening to the recordings from the New York Orchestra, and the orchestra at Julliard's. His notebooks became filled with his hazardous writing as he scribbled down notes on which areas required fixing. As it was break time for the New York Orchestra, Troy threw even more of himself to dedicating his time to preparing his young orchestra for the upcoming trip to Europe. His forms and applications were filled to a T, and handed into the board of directors to inform them of the upcoming trip. And Troy conducted his band like they were his last life line. Not a single second was wasted; the group would come in, warm up, and dove straight into rehearsals, picking apart every single detail and note, right down to the places they could breathe, and places to watch for time. And as Troy concentrated more, the more he began to realize and notice Gabriella's drastic improvement.

Neither had talked, nor been in the same room with one another since the kiss.

But neither could deny the shift in their bodies whenever they were near one another.

Troy become attuned to her every movement. The way she shifted, the way her shoulders rose and fell with every breath she took before continuing to play. The way her cheeks flushed red from hours of practice; a red so similar to the one he had made.

Gabriella watched his every movement, every flex and every wave. Every time his hands swept across the room, she would be reminded of the way the very hand had swept down her waist. Every time he mouthed for a certain section's attention, it was like she could feel those very lips on the very spot on her neck, working wonders to her body. Gabriella didn't know if she had feelings for him, but she knew she was undeniable attracted to him.

A week passed by in a flash of an eye. No sooner had it passed, did Gabriella realize that their Europe trip was coming up in a mere few days. True to her words and her own promise, she had refused to ask her parents for money, in fact, she hadn't even mentioned it to them at all. She paid for it on her own, knowing that it was well worth her savings.

Currently, at the last rehearsal before their trip, Troy had divided his group into their family groups. Clarinets, flutes and saxophones were separated as the woodwind section, while the tubas, trumpets and trombones formed a brass section. In a last minute tune up, Troy instructed each group to focus on blending themselves, so that they were not a group of 50, but as one.

Gabriella, along with Kelsi and others in their group delve straight into practice. Gabriella sat among her group of flautists, while Kelsi with her clarinets as they played through the piece. Troy drifted from section to section, often unnoticed by the groups, and pointing out areas to fix. Troy finally reached his largest group as he listened to the woodwinds. He pointed out certain areas to fix, and pointed to a bar where one of his students were half a second later than the rest. He made his way around, until he reached where Gabriella sat. Troy bent down slightly so that his sight line leveled hers, as his eyes travelled through the music, her clear tune floating in his ears,

"There," he said quietly, his mouth next to her ears as his arms came around and pointed out the spot. Gabriella took in a sharp intake of breath, "you're early, keep in time, follow the rest of the group. Move in time with the beat, and go with the flow, don't go off on your own," he instructed. Gabriella nodded mutely as the group began playing again, Troy not having budged from his spot.

Gabriella came in early yet again.

"One more time," Troy instructed still beside her. The group started from the same spot; Gabriella came in early.

"Timing," he repeated. He placed a hand on her bottom back, and he could feel the muscles there flex and a shudder through her body. "One and two and three and four…" he repeated beside her, his fingers tapping ever so gently. Gabriella could feel her insides shake from the repressed tension she had been holding in for days. She hit the note right on beat, and Troy smiled, leaning up and taking his hand from her back,

"Perfect." As he left Troy looked back to see that Gabriella's cheeks had flushed the same red as it had days ago in his office, and that he could see the erratic breaths from her chest going up and down, as opposed to the even breaths a player would take.

That had been the closest they had been to one another in days. And try as he might, he couldn't help but to test the waters yet again, drawing himself close to her without making it look too out of place. Again he had felt the rush in his heart, and the gates to his animal instincts slowly open, just by being near her presence.

Problem was he didn't know whether or not he was even trying to block those instincts anymore.

Their last rehearsal before the trip ended with the entire group out of breath, and even Troy felt tired from the intensive conducting.

"6AM ladies and gentlemen, a tour bus will be taking us from campus to the airport. If you're late, fly, hitchhike, call Harry Potter, I don't care but _find_ a way there," Troy said sternly. As the group in front of him nodded attentively Troy allowed himself to relax slightly, "I know it's been a crazy week, but I know we can do this, you guys didn't get in here just because we needed students to get money from the government."

As the group disbanded, Kelsi turned around,

"Let's be roommates!" Kelsi said excitedly, Gabriella laughed, nodding,

"It'll be fun, I've never gone to Europe before," Gabriella said, her brown eyes glinting,

"It'll be amazing! All the amazing sights, performances…European boys," Kelsi winked mischievously, making Gabriella laugh at her crazy antics. Gabriella's eyes glanced up to see Troy packing his own stuff, and drifted back down to look at Kelsi. She didn't respond her friend's enthusiasm for looking at European boys, for some reason she felt as though that would be the last thing in her mind,

"Miss Montez?" a third voice interrupted the girls' conversation. Gabriella took a deep breath, as she always did whenever she heard him calling. It almost felt like instinct for her to try to relax herself, and tone down the shudder she got from just hearing him. Troy walked over to the two,

"If you have time, I just need your help with some last minute organization. I need to make a list to make sure we don't forget anything, you might have to bring some extra stuff with you for the trip," Troy said with a lopsided smile. Gabriella nodded silently,

"Call me," Kelsi whispered with a small smile before she excused herself from the room, leaving the two.

It was the first time the two had been in the same room, and they both noticed a change. It wasn't that they were unfamiliar with the burning inside them anymore, which had become second nature to them. It wasn't that they felt the air change, which had become a normal occurrence. It was the fact that they were anticipating it, waiting for the change that brought their body to tingling pleasure.

Gabriella followed him wordlessly into his office. It looked no different compared to the last time she had been in there, and she automatically dropped her bag by the door as if it was second nature,

"I need to make sure all the sheets, scores, extra reeds and parts aren't forgotten," Troy said as he scrambled about his office. Gabriella nodded silently, having already known where those items were. As she worked on her own, Troy snuck a glance over his shoulder. There were darker circles under her eyes, and she looked more fatigued than before.

"You're tired," Troy stated, stopping Gabriella in her actions. She blushed softly,

"J-Just, lots of work," she said softly. Silence again.

"Gabriella." It was so long since he had said her name out loud; it rolled off his tongue smoothly as she looked towards him, "About last time…" and he had left the question hanging, because there was no need to explain what 'last time' meant. The last time they had been in the room together, the last time she was here.

"_Breathe Gabriella, breathe."_ Her mind reminded her. Gabriella took slow breaths, easing her heart into a calmer rate. Troy watched as her body instinctively tried to calm itself. It took all her had not to push her against the wall behind her and see if he could speed it back up again.

"I'm sorry," Troy said. Gabriella blinked.

"S-Sorry…for what?" Gabriella asked softly. Troy blinked back. What exactly was he apologizing for? Sorry for having taken advantage of her? Sorry for kissing her, for unleashing a desire he never imagined to have? Sorry for the way he felt intoxicated in her presence, or the way he was attracted to her? No, Troy couldn't lie to himself and say he was sorry for those, because he wasn't.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." Troy replied; a neutral answer; a political answer. He was not apologizing for his actions; he was apologizing for what she might have felt. Gabriella looked at him, her heart pounding so fast it was humming in her ears. He was apologizing for scaring her? But she wasn't scared, god not a single bit. Her mind was running a hundred miles per second, coming up with a thousand responses at once. But she wasn't scared…and she wasn't sorry. She didn't want him to apologize to her…she didn't want him to regret what he did. She walked up to him slowly,

"But I wasn't scared." Gabriella said softly. Troy froze, she was walking towards him, and the distance between them decreasing so fast Troy barely had time to think. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't about to pretend it didn't make his pulse race.

Gabriella could feel her body moving on its own. It was like when he had kissed her, her rational mind being thrown to the wind, her body controlled by the sole wants and desires surrounding her body. She was never seen as a temptress, never the one to initiate any sort of intimacy with anyone, not even her previous boyfriends. But Troy's look made her deliriously high. It sent her body floating, as if she could do anything in the world. One second she was standing across from him, the next, she was standing directly in front of him, her eyes meeting his.

"_Control Bolton…control…yourself."_ His mind repeated as he stared down at her. The silence between them was suffocating, heavy with suspense, one daring the other to make the first move. When Gabriella's hand reached out and touched his arm, something in Troy's mind seemed to snap, and his arm jerked away from her, although his inner monster was screaming at him to do otherwise. Gabriella froze, looking up at him with uncertainty. Did she just do something wrong?

"I'll drop you off at home," Troy said shortly as he moved away from her range. Gabriella paused, biting down at her bottom lip, unsure of what just happened; what she had done. Watching Troy finishing up cleaning, her heart pounded, this time sending jolts of nervousness rather than the usual heat she had grown accustomed to. She had just reached out to him, acting on the impulse that had been coursing through her body for days, and he had just rejected her. She didn't know why, but her heart squeezed. Had it been in her own mind that she had thought he wanted the same as she?

Gabriella and Troy stopped talking after that, Gabriella waiting silently by the door as Troy finished rounding up his final papers. It was with silence that Gabriella followed him to the teacher's parking lot, where he led her to the familiar black beamer. She silently got into the car while Troy ignited the engine. Neither exchanged words, Troy knowing where to go after dropping her off once before, and Gabriella watching the New York scenery pass her by. A thousand thoughts flew around her mind as the silence enveloped them both.

Did she make a mistake?

Should she have just left, rather than falling prey to her instincts?

Gabriella didn't know what to do; she didn't know what to think. All she could do was remember the way he had jerked his arm away from her. Maybe she was mistaken. Maybe all those thoughts of him feeling the same rush of desire, the reflection she saw in his eyes when they had kissed was all in her imaginations. Maybe it was all her and her hormonal desires.

"_You're barely an adult, he has more control than you do,"_ her rational side chided her. And Gabriella didn't know if she could believe it, because the way he had looked at her as he pinned her to his desk just weeks prior told her a different story. No sooner had her thoughts finished; they arrived at the front of her house,

"Don't be late," Troy said softly, and Gabriella nodded,

"Thank you for the ride," she said quietly, her eyes never meeting his. Troy fought the urge to grab her arms just like she had grazed his and pull her back. But seconds later, his passenger seat was empty, and she was making her way slowly up the steps to her house. Even after the front door had closed, Troy's car remained outside, unmoving.

This was the right thing to do, his mind told him. Even if his body shouted and yelled at him to pull her back and kiss her like no tomorrow, even if she was the only one that could quench the thirst of desire and the monster inside him, this was the right thing to do, he _had_ to tell himself that.

For a good half hour, Troy remained outside, his head against his steering wheel as he continued to convince himself that he was doing what was right.

Because if he couldn't do right by his marriage, he would kill himself to make sure he did right by Gabriella.

…

"When the hell were you planning on telling us?" Greg's angry voice radiated from the living room the moment Gabriella walked through the door. She froze, seeing Isabella's worried face, and her father's twisted in anger,

"I'm…sorry?" she said slowly as she made her way into her house. Greg shot up, shoving a crumpled piece of paper towards her. She looked down. It was the form and package regarding the Europe trip.

"Where did you get this?"

"How long did you think you could hide this from us?" Greg asked coldly. Gabriella glared,

"You were in my room?" she shot back,

"Gabriella, sweetheart, please listen," Isabella said softly, Gabriella turned her glare to her mother, "Why did you hide this from us?"

"I didn't hide it, I didn't ask for your money, I paid for it by myself, so you don't have to worry about this," Gabriella said, snatching the piece of paper from her dad's grasp.

"This doesn't have to do with us paying, why didn't you tell us?" Isabella snapped,

"Would you have let me go?" Gabriella shot back,

"What are you going to do about your other classes huh? What are you going to do if you fall behind?" Greg snapped,

"I won't!" Gabriella shouted, "I've been working my ass off for _weeks_ to make sure I'm on top. I'm the top of all my classes, I never leave things to the last minute, I do all my readings and review everything more than once. I've talked with _all_ my professors, I've settled everything."

"Gabby we just want you to make the right choices," Isabella said

"I am!"

"The hell you are!" Greg shouted, "I knew this was a mistake the _moment_ we agreed for you to go to this school. All this crap about getting a music degree, it'll get you absolutely nowhere! And you," Greg turned his glare to his wife, "You allowed this,"

"Don't you dare blame me," Isabella snapped, "Where were you during the nights we were talking about the different schools? Oh right, you were at your 'office' doing god knows what!"

"Don't you turn change the topic! I told you she should have gone to a proper university! Get a proper degree! That's what she should have done, _that's _what was right for her!"

"Stop!" Gabriella shouted. Greg and Isabella stopped their arguing as they looked at their daughter. Gabriella's eyes flashed angrily as her cheeks flushed red with anger. Rage filled her body as she clenched her fist, her shoulders shaking to keep her emotions down. Hot tears pricked at her eyes but she refused to let them fall. It was bad enough that she had to contain herself whenever Troy was near. She had probably made the worst mistake of her life, having Troy jerk away from her; and now her parents argued in front of her, as if oblivious to her presence; talking about _her_ as if she wasn't there. Everything was swirling out of her control: her thoughts, her wants, her body's desires, everything.

"I've had enough of-of _this_!" Gabriella shouted angrily, "I've had enough of these arguments, and crap! Don't talk about me like I'm not here! I'm right here, I'm standing right here! You keep saying you know what's best for me, but you know what? You _don't_! Neither of you do! You don't know what I need, or what I want, or where I want to be. Who are you to decide what's best for _me?_"

_Slap_.

Gabriella's head snapped sideways as she felt a burning on her cheeks. Isabella stood in front of her, her own eyes burning with unshed tears as her hand shook in midair. Gabriella's hand shakily held her cheeks as she whipped back, looking at her mother,

"D-Don't you _dare_ speak like that to us. We are your parents." Isabella's voice shook. Gabriella's breath was erratic, tears falling down her eyes without her body's permission,

"Don't call yourself my parents when you haven't acted like one since high school," Gabriella hissed, "You have no damn right to call yourself that—" Another sting hit her cheeks as Isabella slapped her again, her own tears falling down her cheeks.

"Go upstairs. You are not going on this trip," Greg said coldly. Gabriella looked at him through teary eyes,

"I am," she said,

"We are your parents. You are _not_ going to go, we will call your school, we're withdrawing you from the program," Greg said with finality.

"You have no right. _I _paid for my tuition!"

"Watch us,"

Gabriella glared at her parents, both of them with a burning hatred she's never felt before. Ignoring what her dad had said, she pushed Isabella aside as she stormed up the stairs, slamming the door to her room. She couldn't breathe as her heart raced, seemingly unable to get enough air in her lungs. She could hear the heavy silence downstairs, but she couldn't care less. She reached under her bed, and pulled out her suitcase. For 20 minutes, Gabriella grabbed all her clothes, her toiletries, her most important belongings, her laptop, and the money she had saved up and stashed between the mattresses of her bed. Half an hour later, she had her suitcase filled, and she flung the door opened, her eyes dried as she made her way downstairs.

Greg and Isabella had remained in the living room, seemingly not having moved from their spots. They came back to life as Gabriella made her way downstairs, suitcase in tow,

"What are you doing?" Isabella said, her eyes widening. The slaps she had given formed an angry red tinge on Gabriella's usual smooth complexion.

"I'm done," Gabriella said, "I'm done with this house, this 'family', your arguments. I'm done. I'm an adult, you can't control me."

"Don't you dare walk out of this house," Greg snarled, Gabriella stopped,

"You lost the right to call this a 'family', to call this a home the moment you started arguing. Every damn night, I have to sleep hearing your shouts and yelling at each other. You can't even solve your own problems, where the hell do you get the right do control my life?" Gabriella said coldly. "I will be going on the trip, and I don't know if I'll be back."

"We'll find you," Greg said. Gabriella shrugged,

"That's your problem, not mine."

"G-Gabby…please." Isabella pleaded softly. Gabriella didn't bat an eyelash, as she pulled the front door opened. She ignored Isabella's plead, and ignored Greg's empty threats. She stepped onto the streets with her suitcase, the night's air cooling her body as she walked away from her parents.

For once she would control her life. For once, Gabriella Montez would do what she wanted, on her terms.

Starting now, things would be under her control.

* * *

**A/N: Not the reaction you were thinking of when Troy and Gabriella met again was it? It's Gabriella who's making the first move, and Troy who's avoiding it (for now anyway). Several side notes just in case:**

**Do not expect the same bubbly, innocent, Disney-fied version of Gabriella. The whole point of this story was to break away from the typical stereotype of Gabriella that the HSM franchise has created. This Gabriella is grown up, and knows what she wants and not afraid to get it.**

**Also, I will state right now, that what Gabriella and Troy are feeling right now IS NOT love, or any type of romantic affection. If you read carefully, you'll realize that everything that I've written about their attraction to each other have all been **_**physical**_**. Troy isn't attracted to Gabriella's personality (hell he doesn't know her enough to understand her personality), and neither is Gabriella. If you re-read their description of what they feel when they see each other, everything's been purely a physical reaction to physical touches and looks. As far as this point of the story is concerned, all they feel and want is simply physical pleasure.**

**Also, a particular reviewer made a comment about Sharpay and Troy's marriage. Some people seem to think Sharpay's the wrecker of the marriage, or rather doesn't want to see Sharpay as a 'good wife' which would consequently make Troy the monster in the relationship (especially with what he's feeling). Let me make this clear right now, neither is to be blamed. Sharpay is neither a 'good' wife, nor is she a bad one, and the same for Troy as a husband. The dinner scene between Sharpay and Troy was written in hopes of trying to give you insight into their relationship. Sharpay isn't being cold, but neither is Troy. But both are finding it hard to put themselves fully into their marriage, so in a sense, **_**both**_** are to be blamed. So no hating on Sharpay please :)**

_**Teaser**_

"_Isn't it beautiful…"_

"_It is…"_

_...  
_

"_Hey isn't that…Professor Bolton's wife on the magazine?"_

"_Who do you think the other guy is?"_

"_Do you think he saw the magazine?"_

_...  
_

"_He didn't look too happy, don't you think Gabs?"_

"_He didn't…"_

"_Hey it's late where are you going?"_

"_I…I have some papers I have to get to him, don't wait up Kels." _

_...  
_

"_Don't…please. Just…please."_

"_T-Troy..."_

"_Say it."_

"_H-hmm…"_

"_Tell me."_

"_P-Please…"_

**Drop a comment and tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Tonight**

**A/N: This chapter contains rated and explicit contents that may not be suitable for younger readers or readers who are not comfortable with those kinds of scenes. I will provide one more warning right before the actual scene, but you have been warned.**

* * *

Troy guided his beamer to a slow stop as he parked across the street from the familiar house.

"_You're crazy, you're going to get caught."_ His mind chided him. He decided that the early morning must have blurred his judgment more than he was willing to admit, but regardless, he had found himself driving to the house where he had watched the young brunette disappear to after having dropped her off the night before.

When Troy woke up that morning, he had not woken up with the intention to be where he was. Sharpay had left for her flight the night before after Troy had returned home. The usual routine occurred, neither speaking a word with each other, except to make arrangements for someone to take care of the house and plants, and exchanging each other's itineraries and reachable numbers with half hearted intent. Other than that, Sharpay had left at midnight with a short good bye, and Troy had bid his good bye in the form of a well wish.

After Troy had lugged his own luggage and carry on into his car, he had planned on arriving at the campus early to triple check everything, and make sure his students arrived on time for the coach that would take them to the airport. As he pulled out of his driveway, however, his body had automatically led him to a different road and no sooner had he realized, he was slowly creeping up to the house with a small intention to wait for a certain brunette to exit the house.

He wasn't stalking…he was just…curious.

Her attempts last night to get close to him was not lost to him, nor did he easily forget. Quite the contrary, as his body and subconscious had tortured him through the night at his rejection towards her. He spent the night twisting and turning, his mind trained on the feel of her hand brushing his arm, and how he had jerked them out of her grasp, the look on her face at his action, and how it had taken all he had as a man to not take back what he had did, and not grab her and hide her in his car, rather than watching her disappear into her house.

Troy sat in his car in silence, watching as an older man exited the house, someone he safely assumed to be her father. Minutes later, an older woman left the house, her sight down cast as she boarded the same car, and they both drove off, completely oblivious to Troy's car parked across from their house. Troy spent another few minutes waiting, wondering if she would make an appearance. But seconds turned to minutes, and when he didn't see any signs of an appearance any time soon, Troy pulled out with a slightly disgruntled mind.

He had seen her form. He must have, because he had looked at it and checked it multiple times to make sure she was going. So where was she?

XXX

"Thanks for letting me stay the night…" Gabriella said softly as the morning sun rose. Kelsi looked up, a soft smile on her face as Gabriella made her appearance,

"Don't worry about it, it's not like I don't have room," Kelsi chuckled. Gabriella replied with a smile as she sat down on the couch. She really hadn't thought things through when she had lugged her belongings down the stairs and out the door in front of her parents. But she knew the second she had walked out; she would not, and could not go back. She needed them to take her seriously, and turning around barely a minute after her tirade would destroy everything she had wanted to prove.

The first person she had thought to call had been Kelsi. Even Gabriella had to admit to herself that save for a few selected friends she had kept in touch with during high school, she had pretty much kept to herself. Her few close friends had chosen to go to different colleges and universities, and Gabriella was not close with any of their parents. Aside from her home, the next place she could think of had been the Julliard's campus. Nowhere else had felt more like home than when she had been in the studio…with him…and all of a sudden, the idea of being anywhere that was remotely close to him seemed more appealing than anywhere else, and had quickly given Kelsi a call.

"I don't want to impose…" Gabriella admitted sheepishly as Kelsi sat down next to her with a bowl of cereal in hand,

"You're not, trust me!" Kelsi laughed, "I'm sharing this house with a roommate of mine, but he's visiting his parents right now so it was getting a little lonely,"

"You're rooming with a guy?" Gabriella asked a small smile on her face.

"Oh please, it's nothing like that!" Kelsi exclaimed with a small shudder, "He doesn't go to school here but he works at a store at Time Square, and it's a lot cheaper here than renting somewhere in the middle of Time Square."

"And you're sure he won't mind another person?" Gabriella asked nervously, Kelsi shook her head,

"He won't, besides he's out working most of the day, and we'll be in Europe for the next several days,"

"Kels…" Gabriella raised an eyebrow,

"…Fine, I'll leave a note, and we'll make introductions when we get back, but for now we leave, so we don't have to call Harry Potter or something similar for a ride to the airport!" Kelsi paused,

"He can do the dishes."

xx

Troy stood on his podium as the music studio became more crowded than usual, luggage and various duffle bags from students taking up majority of the room. Being a music professor allowed him two advantages: one, it wasn't exactly 'out of bounds' should he start swearing at his class, and two, with such strong focus in the growth of individual plays, Troy had a knack for memorizing and knowing each student, which made attendance taking a whole lot easier, especially when his class consisted of 80 students rather than hundreds.

As he ran down and checked off the names on his list, his eyes drifted more often than naught to a specific name, eyes drifting up constantly to see if she was there. Granted, there was still a good 45 minutes before the coach would arrive…plenty of time for her to get here…

Gabriella and Kelsi arrived with time to spare, the loud din from the excited group of musicians drawing them into the room quicker than usual, and their own luggage trailing behind them. Gabriella's eyes flitted up to see Troy's blue eyes trained on the door they had just entered, and she quickly glanced down, a small blush gracing her cheeks as she quickly pulled her own bags and lined it against the wall along with Kelsi's; her impulsive action towards him the night before remained fresh in her mind, along with the strong sting in rejection as he had silently dropped her off at her house.

"_Don't make things awkward." _Her mind commanded her and she gulped hard as she stood firm on her resolve. If Troy was able to be normal and disregard what had happened between them recently, then she could too.

"Hey Kels, I'm going to talk to Professor Bolton, he needed me to bring some extra stuff for the trip, I'll be right back k?" Gabriella called to her friend through the loud conversation. Kelsi nodded, having been just caught up in conversation with another person in their group. Gabriella made her way through the crowd, carefully weaving her way between bodies and random instrument cases sticking out on the floor. She made it to the front relatively unscathed, save for a few instances where she nearly tripped over a random tuba placed in the middle of the room.

Troy watched her squeeze her way through, and held in a small chuckle as he carefully ticked off her name, along with Kelsi's.

"Who in the world leaves a tuba in the middle of the room…" Gabriella's annoyed grumble drew Troy's attention again as she straightened her dark, leather jacket, combing her fingers through her curls quickly. Troy swallowed the lump in his throat,

"Hopefully you could refrain from getting injured until _after_ we're out of the continent," Troy joked softly, making Gabriella look up. A pretty blush appeared on her cheeks, and she couldn't help but send a playful glare at him, even though her rational mind told her she was not helping herself in trying to act normal and treat him as just a professor.

"I'm going to grab a few things from your office…" Gabriella cleared her throat. Troy shrugged, silently giving her permission, but she remained standing there,

"Go ahead,"

"I can't," Gabriella said. Troy cocked his head, and Gabriella sighed as if exasperated, "I need the keys."

"Oh! Keys!" Troy said startled, as if the idea of needing keys to unlock the door was new to him. Gabriella giggled softly, following him as he quickly opened the door to his office, stepping inside with Gabriella following.

The office, it seemed, had become somewhat of a 'sacred' territory between them. It was as if the small room itself belonged to an entire different world from the studio outside. Gabriella and Troy could feel the difference, the difference in the air, and the way their bodies reacted to it. Troy avoided looking at the desk where he had placed her so many days before, and Gabriella kept her back to him, training her eyes to look for only what she needed, and nothing else.

Being in the room did nothing for either of their causes and definitely did not help their attempts to distance themselves away from each other—both physically and mentally.

Gabriella worked as quietly as possible, closing drawers carefully, and never to be in Troy's way. Troy ticked off the things he had needed to bring from his list, and Gabriella would offer one word answers to confirm either a positive, or a negative, in which case they would then spend a few good minutes in silence searching for what they needed. Every time Gabriella drifted even too close to Troy, she could remember her rash and impulsive action, temporarily blinded by the need in her body, and how her body felt as though she had fell into cold water when her finger tips felt him jerk away from her.

"I think we've got everything," Troy sighed in relief after working around the office for a good ten minutes. Gabriella nodded the extra bag she had brought now complete with extra scores and master scores, reeds, and other binders Troy had entrusted to her. Gabriella took a deep breath, it was now or never. It felt like a good time (against the rejection of her more primitive and raw needs), in the office where it all began, between him and her, to set the line straight, and to set her own self straight that this would be strictly be a teacher and student relationship.

"Professor…" Gabriella said softly, and Troy started, the word coming out of _her_ mouth did not sit well with him, "I…I just want to say…I'm so-"

"We need to get going," Troy interrupted her firmly, "The coach should be there, and I need you to help me take attendance on the coach while I make sure the instruments are stowed away correctly, it's in the first binder I gave you." His tone of voice bore no argument, in fact, as insurance, right after Troy said that, he had made to quickly tidy up, and open the door for Gabriella before turning the lights off in his office.

He knew what she was going to say, what she had wanted to do. She was going to apologize. Apologize for reacting to his needs, apologize for the way his body craved her attention in ways he should not be craving. She was going to apologize for his cowardice and his inability to face or control the burning inside him. But he didn't want her to apologize, she _can't_ apologize. Because if she did, he would have to apologize for lying to himself, for trying to convince himself that he was trying to do right by her…without knowing what was right.

XXX

As the group of Julliard's youngest and finest musicians walked into JFK, their excited whispers from the bus had erupted fully into excited chatting, their voices echoing in the large airport that was relatively empty at 10:00AM. Lucky for them, they had chosen to travel at the beginning of November, a down time during the autumn months as the airports and countries prepped for the Christmas rush.

There was little time left for either Gabriella or Troy to think beyond anything else than to get their group past customs and security check and onto the plane. Troy had stationed himself at the check in table to make sure everything was going smoothly, and Gabriella found herself right next to him, a binder opened in her hand as she mumbled things to herself, stopping occasionally when Troy asked her to check who was missing and who had already been checked in; half an hour later, their group sat in the waiting area, waiting to load the plane.

"This is so exciting!" Kelsi squealed to herself, clapping her hands. She sat down onto the vacant seat next to Gabriella, a bag of strawberry Twizzlers in her hand. She opened a pack, popped a piece in her mouth, and passed it to her brunette friend.

"Sure it is," Gabriella said, taking a piece.

"Aw c'mon Gabs, this is _Europe_ we're talking about! You sound like we've already spent a week there and came back dead," Kelsi pouted,

"I feel like I'm already dead," Gabriella rolled her eyes. She never knew checking in 80 odd students (and having a few stragglers who dashed towards them after having to call a cab to the airport) could be such a hassle. Even now, as she ever so nonchalantly glanced up, Troy was sitting across from them his eyes furrowed in concentration.

"Well no deadpanning now, you can dead pan on the plane, but for now you _will_ be excited with me!" her auburn haired friend declared with a definitive swing of another piece of the strawberry candy.

It takes a total of 7 hours to fly from the JFK Airport, to London Heathrow Airport, with London being 5 hours ahead of New York City. As it were, the group had left JFK airport at noon, and by London time had arrived a little past midnight.

Troy walked up and down the aisles, doing his last mental count of the students on the plane. As he passed Kelsi and Gabriella's seat, he couldn't help but sneak a look at Gabriella, who had fallen asleep, and was sleeping soundly with her head against the closed window of the plane, a small smile on her pink lips, her dark eyelashes fluttering.

"_**Attention all passengers. We are now beginning our descent into Heathrow Airport. Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts and ensure all trays are returned to their upright positions. Please do not stand from your seats until we have landed and the captain has turned off the seatbelt signal. The time is now 12:04AM, London time. We thank you for travelling with us, and welcome to London, England."**_

"Gabs…Gabby wake up," Kelsi gently shook the brunette beside her. Gabriella hummed softly, a gentle sigh leaving her lips as her eyes fluttered beneath her eyelids. Her senses were slowly coming back to her, her ears starting to pick up the rumbling of the plane engine, and the _ping_ sound of the seatbelt signal turning back on.

"_No, I don't want to wake up…I want to go back…"_ she thought to herself groggily. She didn't want to leave the warmth that had been her dream, the silky sheets she had felt under her body, sharing her warmth with the second body that had been with her.

"Gabriella, wake up, you have to see this!" Kelsi whispered excitedly. Sighing, Gabriella resigned herself to the fact that reality would not leave her alone, and her eyes slowly opened, blinking to the dim lights from the aisles. She vaguely felt Kelsi lean over her to pull the window screen up to reveal the night scene of London, England.

"Isn't it beautiful…" Kelsi sighed romantically as she settled back into her seat, stretching her head out to see the scene. Gabriella turned; the grey clouds began to disappear as the plane descended from altitude, millions of lights appearing below the plane, sparkling beneath them like lights decorating a Christmas tree. Gabriella's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her, her heart pumping with excitement. She closed her eyes, imagining the ancient walkways of England, the romantic alleyways and Victorian structure that exuded with the traditional romance she had read of when she was a little girl. In her mind, she imagined herself, standing underneath the London lights, and a romantic stranger sweeping her off her feet, and looking up to meet his beautiful, blue eyes.

"It is…"

XXX

7 hours flight later with a 5 hours time difference, the group from Julliard's left the airport and into their pre-booked coach as if they had just woken up from a long sleep, and energy levels were through the roof. Gabriella left her worries behind as she gushed along with Kelsi at the midnight view of London. Every little thing amazed her, down to the double Decker busses, to the beautiful, artfully crafted buildings that exuded centuries of history.

Even Troy couldn't help but join in on the excitement. As he basked in the excitement of his group, he watched as Gabriella's eyes lit up and the curve of her smile as she laughed and nodded her head at something Kelsi had said.

Paired with that sight, even Troy could take a moment to forget what he had left behind back in New York, forget about his life at home, about his perilous marriage and just focus on the feelings he had inside.

Xxx

"Is this not the coolest, or what?" Kelsi squealed as they entered their room. Gabriella giggled, lugging her own luggage alone while Kelsi had already abandoned hers in the middle of the room, and was already jumping towards the window, pulling apart the curtains to reveal the dazzling sight. Although it was nearly two in the morning in London time, their bodies were still in New York time, and set at 9PM in the evening and nowhere near exhausted enough to head to bed.

"Kelsi, relax, we're here for a week," Gabriella laughed,

"Exactly! Only 7 days to do so many things! Shopping, sight-seeing, boy hunting…" Kelsi smirked mischievously, winking at Gabriella,

"The performance?" Gabriella reminded, "7 days to do all that, on top of all the rehearsals we'll be having,"

"You're a party pooper you know that," Kelsi glared as she jumped onto the bed nearest to the window. She casually flipped on the channel, a news report flashing on the television.

"Kelsi do you even understand what they're saying?" Gabriella asked. The auburn haired musician glanced at her,

"Does it matter? Anything sounds good in a British accent,"

Gabriella laughed. Kelsi was just unbelievable. As she began to unpack, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Taking it out, the giddy mood Kelsi and the European air had given hair plummeted as a frown creased on her face. Her mom's contact picture came up as the phone kept ringing at the incoming call. Frowning, she ignored the call, and threw the phone onto the spare bed as she grabbed a couple binders from the carry on she had kept with her on the plane, containing details of the itinerary and things Troy would need to look over,

"Hey Kels, I'm going to drop this off at Professor Bolton's, I'll be right back, k?" Gabriella asked, she was given permission to do so by an absentminded wave of Kelsi's hand, and a remote directed to the TV to raise the volume. Sighing to herself, Gabriella grabbed her stuff, and quickly walked out, walking down the hall, two doors down to where Troy was staying.

Taking a deep breath, she plucked up her courage, and knocked on the door.

Troy took a deep breath as he came out of the shower, wearing a loose white t-shirt and jeans, his messy dirty blond hair dripping wet as he ran a towel through them. The digital clock by his bedside read 2:30AM, and yet he couldn't sleep. He had too much to do, too many things to worry about to prepare for the following day. The coffee machine he had set running before his shower and readily filled with the magic liquid that would keep him alive for the next 24 hours.

_Knock. Knock._

Troy looked up curiously, he wasn't expecting anyone, and surely his students had better things to do than to talk to him this late in the evening. He strode to the door and pulled it opened, and the warmth from his shower seemed to disappear all together from the sight of the brunette standing before him. Just from the sight of her he could feel his guts churn, and his heart pound the unrestraint desire he tried to desperately hide.

Gabriella looked up, and her breath hitched. She had always known the professor was one of the most relaxed, and casual professors at the academy. But the sight of water dripping down his hair, and loose strands hanging in front of his brilliant blue eyes made her blood rush again. He looked so…comfortable and…normal…

"Something wrong?" Troy asked, clearing his throat. Gabriella shook her head, looking up quickly and then looking down at the binders in her arm,

"U-Um, these are the forms and papers and itineraries for tomorrow, I have the other copy these are the originals. There's also the forms for the coach driver tomorrow, and the rehearsal space and timing. The scores are ordered in practice order, and I have the extra reeds and equipment that I'm going to keep with me," Gabriella shot out quickly. Her arms shot out, handing the neatly organized binder to him. Troy didn't know if he was impressed at her organizational skills, or her ability to say all of that without taking a breath. Her face was growing red from her lack of breathing, and Troy chuckled,

"Take a breath Miss Montez, I can't have you fainting on me as soon as we arrive,"

Gabriella blushed, willing her lungs to move on their own. But no matter how much she breathed, or how hard, she still felt light headed.

"W-Well if th-that's all—I mean that's all, I should get back…to my room…good night." Gabriella ducked her head, making a beeline back towards the direction of her room while Troy still stood by the opened doorway, watching her go. He watched as she patted around her body and pockets as if searching for something, before groaning and knocking on the door.

"Kels? Kelsi open the door it's me." Gabriella called, careful to not be disturbing others. But the door remained locked and she started to curse herself for foolishly leaving the room key inside with her roommate while she rushed to get the binders out.

"Something wrong?" Gabriella turned around to see Troy right beside her. She didn't hear him come up, but she could feel a drop of water falling onto her shoulder,

"I must've left my keys inside…and Kelsi's watching the television so she can't hear me and I didn't bring my phone out to text or call her." Gabriella sighed, "It's ok…she'll probably notice I'm not here for a while so I'll just wait outside."

"Wait in my room," Troy said suddenly. Gabriella looked up, slightly surprised at his suggestion. Even Troy had surprised himself, the mere suggestion hadn't even crossed his mind before if had popped out of his mouth. He coughed nervously, "I mean, I am your teacher, and supervisor for the trip…I can't really have you wait outside on your own like that in a foreign country…"

"Ok…"

"You can use the hotel phone from my room to call your friend," Troy added, just to balance his unconscious desire to have her with him with a logical option. Gabriella bit the bottom of her lip, and Troy inwardly wished she wouldn't do that.

"_I can't be in the same room…alone…with him…in a hotel! Can I?...I'm over thinking, he's doing it because he's the professor, he'd do this if it were anyone else,"_ her mind convinced her. Willing to push past her hesitation, Gabriella nodded, quickly following Troy to his room. She walked in, taking a quick look around, the room similar to the one she and Kelsi were sharing. A soft ring from the counter next to the television drew Gabriella's attention as the coffee's warm aroma filled the room. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath as the smell filled her body, and she hummed in pleasure.

Troy froze as the small sound escaped her paused body. The noise she mad seemed to have multiplied in volume once it entered his mind, echoing and resonating throughout his entire body. It vibrated through every single one of his nerves, and he hissed out a breath of air.

"Planning on not sleeping much tonight?" Gabriella turned around; the smell of the coffee relaxing her previously tensed muscles. Troy stood there, his eyes seemingly staring off into space, Gabriella walked up, figuring he hadn't heard her, and tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. Her touch seemed to have set him off somehow, as he suddenly jerked at the tap, and his eyes swooped down to hers, blaring a fire that froze Gabriella on the spot.

Troy breathed deeply, willing his body to listen to his logical side…or what was left of his logical side. He had fought nail and tooth with himself to do the right thing by her, and he was not about to let all that go to waste by a single wrong action…or look…or even just the hint of a touch…

Gabriella gulped as she tried to move away from his gaze. Could he see her body shaking? Could she feel the way she wavered and shook inside as she tried to hold onto what was left of her sanity that had been torn to shreds? Did he know that if he took even _one_ step towards her, whatever logical side she had left over would be gone?

"I-Can I-the phone…please." Gabriella stuttered, breaking the heavy silence between them. Her words seemed to have triggered something in his mind, and Troy stiffly pointed to the phone by the bed. She quickly excused herself, and sat onto the bed, dialing her room number. Troy heard her mutter something, and a reply through the phone before she quickly hung up.

"Kelsi's at the door, thank you," Gabriella said quickly. She avoided his eyes as she ducked her head and walked out as fast as possible, the door closing before Troy could get his bearings. A minute after she left the room, Troy forced his body to relax, and took a deep breath in an attempt to collect himself.

Except now the air was tainted with the hint of her smell, and he couldn't, for the life of him, get it out of his mind.

XXX

Neither Gabriella nor Troy had time to dwell on anything after that. The next morning found the group from Julliard's groggily waking up to a gloomy London morning, the sky blocked by storm grey clouds, and their bodies still living on New York time. Gabriella and Kelsi arrived at the breakfast lounge yawning one after the other.

"I need coffee," Kelsi mumbled to herself as she dragged herself to the coffee machine. Gabriella nodded, stretching softly as she perused around the breakfast table, settling for a pancake and some fruits and orange juice. She found an empty table and set her tray down, yawning as she went.

"Yawns are contagious," said a voice behind her. She turned, and saw Troy standing behind her, dressed in a dress shirt and dress pants and tie, the binders she had dropped off yesterday in his hands,

"Are you going around the room telling that to everyone?" Gabriella asked, smiling softly, knowing she had stumped him. Half his band was suffering from the unfortunate weather and a case of serious jet lag.

"Touché," Troy chuckled, "Can I ask you a favor? I can take care of the forms and applications, but with the weather and making sure we're all together I—"

"I'll take the scores," Gabriella interrupted him, automatically standing up to grab the binder on the top. Troy stopped talking, bemused at the fact that she had just saved him the humiliation of admitting his dismal organization skills, "And you might want to consider fixing the tie,"

"What's wrong with it," Troy said quickly, his innate male ego quickly flaring up in defense of his tie tying skills. Rather than telling him, Gabriella instinctively reached up, and loosened the knot, pulling it down before adjusting it so that it was centered with his buttoned shirt, and pushed it back up softly, patting it softly so that it remained in place, and quickly running her fingers down the tail of the tie to soothe out any odd crinkles.

"There, now there's nothing wrong," Gabriella said brightly. She looked up only to see his expression frozen, and his eyes quivering in its socket as he watched her, and her hands paused at the tip of his tie, her fingers brushing the white button below it.

"Gabs I got you some too,"

Gabriella's hands jerked back as if she had been shocked, hiding her hand behind her back so that Kelsi couldn't see them shake.

"_Don't be stupid, your entire body's shaking!"_ she thought.

"Professor?" Kelsi squeezed in, placing her own tray which consisted of salad, chocolate chip waffles and two cups of coffee,

"Ah-that will be all, please make sure you bring-um the rest of those…things." Troy said quickly before he walked out, his own breakfast forgotten on the table across from them.

"That was weird," Kelsi said as she sat down. Gabriella nodded mutely, sitting back down and beginning to pick at her pancake.

The annoying rush was back, and somehow Gabriella knew that no amount of London rain could quench it now. Unknown to her, Troy stood in the washroom, glaring heatedly at the mirror before him, thinking exactly the same thing, the strong resolve he had tried to build falling before his eyes.

XXX

It was with a whirlwind of emotions as Gabriella walked into the Victoria Palace Theatre with her group. The sheer presence of the theatre, lined wall to wall with seats of red velvet, and a tremendous stage in the middle that was the center of gravity in the room took her breath away, and silenced the usual loud and outspoken group. Every breath Gabriella took, she could feel as if thousands of people were silently watching her, the musty air filling her lungs with excitement, her heart pounding.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, will be your stage in two days." Troy announced, his voice echoing in the hallowed halls. The hush of excited whispers that flew through the group resonated around the room like waves of the ocean crashing towards land. Gabriella's eyes flew to Troy as he made the announcement, and his eyes met her excited ones. The glow on her cheeks and the flush of red from her rushing blood chilled Troy's bones, and heated his blood. He coughed.

"Don't let this chance be wasted." The group took in a collective breath as Troy led them out again, taking them to an alternate practice room where they would begin their last rehearsal before their official sound check.

The rehearsal lasted for 5 hours, with two half hour breaks in between. With the excitement and adrenaline still coursing through her veins, Gabriella never had such an intensive rehearsal, and never had she put her heart into every breath she blew, and every note she played. So intensive and concentrated was the group that no one dared to utter a single word or sound that did not relate to their upcoming performance. And 5 hours later, the group left the building with a renewed sense of determinism.

Before returning to the hotel, Troy permitted the group to head to a local street fair that was happening, and the group happily dispersed with the promise of meeting in an hour. Gabriella and Kelsi browsed through the shops excitedly with their arms linked, pointing and giggling at everything they saw. Gabriella blushed when Kelsi winked at a few British men that passed by that did not hesitate to return Kelsi's more than friendly gesture. Gabriella dragged Kelsi away before she got them locked up in the hotel room for the remainder of the trip.

"He isn't that…Professor Bolton's wife on the magazine?"

Gabriella's ears picked p the name, and the familiar sound of one of her fellow band mates.

"Who do you think the other guy is?" whispered another.

Another…guy? Troy's wife?

"Do you think he saw the magazine?"

Gabriella's eyes had immediately snapped up from the postcards she had been looking at, looking up and down the fairly contained street fair. Her mind told her it would be impossible to pick out a single person among so many people, and yet barely a minute later, she had spotted the familiar silhouette of his back, and he was looking down, holding tightly onto the exact magazine that the people near her had been talking about. Noticing Gabriella's distraction, Kelsi quickly went to ask to borrow the magazine, and returned to Gabriella's side, reading the cover. Gabriella looked down, an unknown fear bubbling in her stomach.

_**American Broadway Star Spotted Cozily with Co-Star**_

And pictures of the blonde with a male happily strolling down the streets of Europe in linked arms covered the page, paired with smaller shots of them whispering and smiling to one another, and clearer picture just below the header of a picture of Troy and Sharpay together at a premiere they had attended just several months ago.

XXX

The ride back to the hotel was silent, for a completely different reason.

Gabriella figured it was safe to say that the majority, if not the entire band had heard the inkling whispers of their professor's private life splattered on the front page of the local magazine. When they got back to the hotel, no one needed the order to return to their room, having decided to do so themselves to avoid possible chances of crossing Troy's path. Even Kelsi had pulled Gabriella towards the elevator the moment they had walked into the hotel, despite Gabriella wanting to ask if Troy was alright…from a purely student-caring-about-her-professor sort of way.

"That was so…awkward!" Kelsi breathed as they entered the safety of their room. Gabriella nodded mutely, grabbing the magazine Kelsi had gotten from a friend, and settling herself on her bed. She quickly flipped to the cover page news,

**American Broadway Star, Sharpay Evans (28), was spotted with fellow actor and co-star, Zeke Baylor (30) spending some private time together during a break from their promotional activities. The stars were caught to have shared a private dinner, before taking a stroll at night, presumably unaware, or uninterested, of following photographers.**

**Ms. Evans and Mr. Baylor are continuing their leg of European promotions for the week, and have acted together in several musicals in the United States, and in several prestigious theatres.**

"He didn't look too happy…don't you think Gabs?" Kelsi asked curiously as she sat crossed legged on her bed, thinking thoughtfully. Gabriella only half listened, focused on the magazine,

**Ms. Evans is married to American conductor and professor, Troy Bolton. Mr. Bolton is also an influential figure in the industry of performing arts, conducting the famous New York Orchestra, and as a professor in the prestigious Julliard's Academy for the Performing Arts. The couple have been married for three years, and have previously worked together on several occasions in shows.**

"Gabs?"

Gabriella started, looking up from the magazine, "Yes?"

"Are you alright? You didn't answer me,"

"Oh, sorry I was just…distracted, what did you say?"

"I asked if you noticed that Professor Bolton didn't look too happy on the way back," Kelsi repeated, Gabriella bit her lip,

_Private dinner…married…_

"He didn't…" Gabriella whispered to herself. She suddenly shot up, grabbing some papers along with her,

"Hey it's late, where are you going?" Kelsi asked, startled at Gabriella's sudden actions, Gabriella's mind flew around, not concentrating on anything but trying to get to Troy's room.

"I-I have some papers to get to him, don't wait up Kels," Gabriella said quickly, gesturing to her arm full of paper. She made a motion to also grab the hotel key from the table, waving it at Kelsi to let her know she would have her way in, and not to worry about waiting up for her. Seconds later, Gabriella was out.

Troy glared at the magazine cover, the lights in his room all turned off save for the glow from the drawn back window. The pictures clouded his mind, his breathing harsh as he tried to force his mind to come up with some coherent thought.

But he couldn't. All he could think of was…nothing. His mind was a field of white, blank and absent of coherent or logical thought. Because he couldn't…he couldn't think…he didn't know _what_ to think. He didn't know _how_ to think.

His wife…his _wife_ was pictured with another man, on a magazine cover plastered for the entire world to see. His _wife_, the woman he had pledged to love till death do them part, the woman who he had shared a bed with, shared himself with, was pictured with another man that was not him and…and…

He couldn't think of a single, damn, thought.

He could not think, could not speak, could not come up with a coherent situation, or a logical explanation. How was he supposed to feel? What was he supposed to do? He felt so lost, and out of control. Troy had lost his bearings, had lost the string, however thin, that had pulled him from falling, and now, he was without something to lead him with.

He was therefore startled when a knock broke his thought, and he made his way blindly to the door, opening it without checking. There she stood, her brown hair in curls that laid so perfectly around her cheeks, and falling down to her collar bones. Her brown eyes looking up at him with so much concern and worry, and lips poised and ready to speak.

There she was. Just standing there. In front of him.

"P-Professor…" Gabriella said softly, aware of the dim room. She walked in slowly, her arms tightening on the sheets she held, "I…I just wanted to know if you were alright."

Alright…what was alright? Troy thought. Was there really a way to be alright? What was he supposed to say to that, when he could not even think properly with a mind filled with white. Gabriella looked at him with concern, his silence unnerving her.

"T-Troy?" Gabriella tried again, she placed a tentative hand on his arm to catch his attention. The touch was like a switch, an ignition to a turned off engine, extra fuel to a dying fire. The numbness that Troy felt, the blankness in his mind had suddenly flared up by one single touch, and his eyes flared with a fire as he looked at her.

Standing right there.

**(A/N: The following section will be rated. Readers who are uncomfortable can skip this part. You have been warned.)**

Gabriella didn't have time to act before Troy had swooped down towards her, his lips connecting to hers in an instant. Her eyes widened as she felt the familiarity of those lips working on hers, and his hands gripping her hip. Her heart pounded, but it was not blood that was rushing through her veins, but the rush of a fire hotter, stronger, _and needier_ than ever. The flare of desire that she had struggled to hide inside her exploded in her stomach, and fuelled her need for more.

Troy pulled away, his eyes lidded hazily as he breathed hardly, staring at the brunette before him.

"I-umm" Gabriella started, but Troy leaned down, and took her bottom lip into his and bit softly, cutting her off with a small groan.

"Don't…please. Just…please." Troy whispered, his lips barely a centimetre away from hers. His breath washed over her like a drug, muddling her mind and numbing her logic, overwhelming her body with a flood of strong desire and need. She pushed herself up against him, locking their lips again as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him as close to her as possible. The need for the others physical touch was overwhelming as they battled each other with their lips, each fighting for something neither understood.

Gabriella ran her tongue over Troy's bottom lip, earning a groan from him as he pushed her back. She grunted as her back hit the wall roughly, giving Troy the chance to slip his tongue into her opened mouth, running it over her own tongue. She moaned softly, gripping his neck even tighter. Troy pulled back, breathing as he watched her under his lids, her own eyes lidded with a lustful daze, her kiss bruised lips letting out short puffs of air.

"T-Troy," she breathed.

"Say it." Troy said in a husky whisper. Gabriella's eyes looked at him with confusion, and he attached his lips to her jaw, skillfully making his way down her neck, running his tongue tantalizingly over her sensitive skin. His kissed his way to the bottom of ear, and sucked. Gabriella gasped,

"H-hmm…" she moaned,

"Tell me." He bit the spot, and blew cool air over it, sending shivers down her spine as she arched her back slightly. His right hand left her waist, and trailed its way down the side of her jean clad thigh, and lifted it slightly so that it rose to his hip, giving him more room to push closer to her, pinning her squarely between him and the wall. Gabriella bit her quivering lip as she felt her heated center brush against his.

"P-Please…" she begged softly, her eyes nearly rolling back from the want that drove her body insane. The single word had been enough for Troy, as he left her spot on her neck, and crashed his lips frantically onto hers. Gabriella had responded almost instantly, grateful for the instant fire that sparked from his kiss. Her hands had become frantic, unwrapping themselves from his neck, and making her way quickly down to his tie. She fumbled as she untied the knot she had so carefully done earlier that morning while maintain their lip contact. She pulled it off, and threw it to the floor.

Troy thanked the gods that she had come wearing just sweater, his left hand making quick work of the zipper, pulling it down and pushing it off her shoulder, leaving her in a thin camisole top. He felt his own shirt fall to the ground, leaving him in a wife beater and he couldn't care less.

Gabriella moaned as his lips left hers, and made its way down her neck, she tilted her neck, giving him more access as he sucked on the juncture between her neck and exposed shoulder.

"H-Hm shirt," she groaned, her shaking fingers found the hem of his wife beater, and pulled it off instantly, consequently breaking his contact with her neck. Troy did the same the next second, stripping her of her top and leaving her in a simple, lacy black bra. His eyes darkened at the sight, and he pushed up, using both his hands to lift her legs up, Gabriella caught the signal, and instantly wrapped it around his waist, attaching her lips to him again.

Carrying her with him, Troy stumbled across the room towards the bed as his hands held and massaged her bare waist. He held her tightly as he placed her on the bed, with him securely on top and between her parted legs. The moment she had touched the bed, Troy made his way down, caressing her chest with his kisses. He lavished his tongue down the valley of her breasts, and dipped them into her right bra and Gabriella arched her back with another moan, this time louder than the last. Taking the opportunity, Troy reached behind, and expertly unclasped her bra, the material falling from its place and revealing her breasts, surrounded with goose bumps. Without a second thought, Troy took her right nipple into his mouth, and swirled his tongue around it.

"O-Ohh…T-Troy-mm," Gabriella moaned, her eyes closed as she clenched her fist around the bed sheets. Her hips rose at the feeling that coursed through her, and rubbed against Troy's now clearly evident bulge. Troy groaned and bit softly, earning another moan from the woman beneath him. His lips trailed down her breasts, lapping its way down her smooth, flat stomach, stopping at the hem of her jeans. He also made quick work of that, and quickly pulled them down, panty and all, leaving Gabriella in her full, naked glory.

Troy's breath hitched as he paused to look at the woman beneath him. If he had a surge of desire before, the desire that raced through him now was inexplicable. The fire burned his entire body, the flames licking just underneath his skin, and he quickly dove down and raised both her knees, kissing her inner thigh.

"OOH shh…" She closed her eyes, putting a hand over her mouth to cover the moans that kept escaping as he kissed higher, and higher, closer, and closer to the center of her fire. Troy's mind became intoxicated by her smell as he blew softly at her heated center. Suddenly, he rose up, and captured her lips in his, and swallowed her next moan as she arched her back, feeling his fingers teasing along her slit,

Gabriella could barely contain herself as he slipped a single finger inside her, her back arching as he slowly pumped her to insanity. Troy could feel her walls automatically clenching around his digit, and he groaned at the warm and tight feeling. Gabriella fumbled as her hands trailed down his chest, and his abs shakily, reaching the buckle of his belt. She didn't know how, with the slow rate that her brain was working, but she had unbuckled it, and threw it to god knows where as she made quick work of his jean buttons, sliding his jeans down, leaving him in his boxers with an obvious tent.

"S-Shit…!" Gabriella gasped as she squirmed, Troy adding another finger, pumping harder this time. Her head fell onto the pillow as her back arched higher that it had before, "O-Oh god, right there, r-right there!" she mewled, his fingers brushing against her sweet spot. Troy took notice of the angle, and pumped even faster, barely brushing her spot on purpose, making her squirm as the red filled her cheeks and her eyes fell shut. Gabriella could feel the build-up in her guts, the impending pressure that was dying for a release,

"O-Oh god, T-Troy I'm…" she couldn't continue as another moan ripped from her throat. Troy pulled out, leaving her teetering on the edge as her chest rose up and down heavily. Her eyes opened, unable to hide her disappointment, he smirked and bent down, capturing her frown between his teeth and biting it,

"Not right now." He said huskily, his hands ghosting over her slit teasingly. Gabriella narrowed her eyes, her mind not functioning the way it normally would with the over stimulation and the want tormenting her body. She daringly raised her lower body, and crashed her pelvis to his, feeling his hardened length through his boxer rub against her naked sex. She bit her lip to contain a groan, grinding harder to try to maximize the friction between them. She groaned in pain when Troy bit down not so gently at her action, his eyes darkening and narrowing as he glared at her. She lifted her feet, and pushed his boxers down, freeing his length from its confines.

Troy let her lips go with a gasp when he felt the hint of nimble fingers gingerly brushing its way up his length, before slowly wrapping around it, and pumping in a torturous slow pace. Gabriella could feel it swelling in her hands, as she could feel the need in her growing to the point of explosion.

"T-Troy, please," she gasped, she looked at him, and he looked at her. Their minds were completely blank except for what they were feeling between them. Troy wanted her—no, he _needed_ her. He needed every, single, inch of her. He needed to claim her, to make his mark on her, to draw everything she had, and more. His hands stopped hers, and pulled them back up. She widened her legs, as he positioned himself. She moaned feeling the tip of it brush against her slit, and she unconsciously pushed towards him to get more.

"Are you…" Troy whispered harshly, Gabriella shook her head desperately, her hands trapped in his single hand hold. She cried softly as Troy pushed all the way in with no hesitation as soon as she had answered. She closed her eyes, wincing at the hint of pain that accompanied with his penetration; she had not slept with anyone for a long time, and Troy was a lot larger than anyone she had slept with before.

"F-Fuck," Troy groaned, as he pushed deeper. Her walls had automatically wrapped around him, and it took all he had not to pull out and pound into her with everything he had, "A-Are you ok?"

"J-Just, wait, don't-don't m-move." Gabriella breathed. She tried to relax herself, accommodating to his size. Troy took deep breaths, burying his face in the crook of her neck as he tried as hard as he could to hold his position. But every time she took a breath, her walls contracted, and he groaned as he tried to fight the carnal need to just thrust.

"O-Ok, move." Gabriella breathed. Troy gingerly pulled out, and pushed back in. Gabriella gasped, arching her back. Taking that as a good sign, Troy pulled out again, and pushed back in, keeping a slow pace to make sure there was no pain.

Gabriella groaned, feeling her sweet spot being brushed ever so slightly by Troy's slow movement. She pushed her hips up to meet him mid thrust, and she let out a soft scream, feeling it penetrate even deeper,

"O-Oh god, faster," she groaned. Troy grunted, moving faster, thrusting harder than before. Gabriella rose her hip and met his next thrust, and she nearly screamed from the stars that erupted in her eyes as the wave of pleasure overtook her body, his thrusts giving her pleasure she never knew existed.

"F-Fuck right there, harder, right there!" she cried. Troy had let go of her wrist, placing both hands next to her head, making her wrap her arms around him,

"Wrap your legs around me," he ordered harshly as he thrust faster, angling himself to get the same reaction every time. Gabriella trembled as she rose her legs and wrapped it around his waist, bringing her closer to him, and him deeper into her. Their skin slid against each other as sheen of sweat covered their bodies. Troy pounded even harder, and Gabriella's moan echoed in time with each thrust.

Troy could begin to feel the tightening in his guts, and he knew he was close. He looked at Gabriella, her lips slightly opened as she breathed harshly, her eyes lidded and cheeks tinged red with pleasure. He leaned down and captured her lips,

"Cum with me," he whispered harshly, Gabriella whimpered. Balancing his weight on his left arm, his right hand slithered down between their bodies, before reaching her sensitive bundle of nerves. He fingered it, and brushed against it, rubbing it in time with his thrust.

"O-O-Oh God-I-T-Troy I'm—"Gabriella clenched her jaws as her nerves exploded and her muscles tensed. She froze against him as she felt her orgasm explode. Troy clenched his teeth, feeling her walls tighten around him tighter than he had ever experienced. He pushed in a few more times before he released inside her, feeling her tighten her grip and cry against his shoulder as he filled her with his warmth. He nearly crashed on top of her, his body suddenly too exhausted to support his own weight. Gabriella breathed beneath him, her heart pounding as her body twitched slightly from her high. Slowly, Troy pulled out, and Gabriella almost hissed at the feeling.

"T-Troy…" Gabriella mumbled, exhaustion coming faster than she thought. Troy shook his head weakly, lying on his side,

"Don't."

And they didn't. At this moment, at this time, they would ask no question. They would think no further. Nothing beyond the night, and the breathing of the person next to them.

* * *

**A/N : And here you go ladies and gentlemen, I made them have sex. :) One of my longest chapter, very big thanks to ****e.v.y.s2**** for her help in writing the scene. She's my co-writer/producer for this story, and I'm not very good (or experienced) with writing rated scenes, so props to her for all her help!**

**I will also offer another warning now, that this story is rated for a reason. It is not rated just because of this scene, I will tell you right now, that there will be more rated-ness later on, probably not as long or explicit, but it'll be there. Don't worry, it's not going to be every chapter, it'll pop up when it needs to for the sake of story development. I will just say this: remember, all they are feeling is lust right now.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Heated**

* * *

Gabriella could feel the morning approaching as her body slowly regained consciousness.

She could feel the sun beam filter through the windows as they hit her open skin, the warmth sending goose bumps down her arm as her body adjusted to the slow change in temperature. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the soft light hues hit her eyes, strong enough to make her squint as her body came back to life.

Ache.

That was what she felt.

A stiff, tingling ache that had settled itself deep within her muscles during her sleep, which made her unwilling to move from the impossibly soft bed.

Something didn't feel right, as she groggily opened her eyes, the blank hotel walls greeting her blurry vision. Her brain was functioning abnormally slow as her body failed to adapt to her current surroundings…of which she currently had not the slightest clue about. Just as she was about to shuffle out of bed, her entire body froze.

And she didn't mean froze as in she stopped moving.

Froze as in something…or _someone_ tightened their hold around her, and she was literally unable to move.

She stopped breathing.

She stopped moving.

She stopped thinking.

But the single move of constraining her movements had already opened up doors and windows that she had never wanted opened.

Because when she moved, the stranger's hand brushed against her _bare_ torso.

_Bare_. Naked.

She was naked without a single stitch of clothing on her body.

Gabriella barely had time to control her breathing as the previous night's events flooded her mind.

His looks. _The rush_. The kiss. _The heat_. The feeling of their bodies sliding against each others. _Their passion_. The explosion of feelings that coursed through her very body as he held her to him and him to her as they climaxed together, the feeling of the mind being blank except for the rush of pleasure, the flood of euphoria that coursed through her veins like the most addictive drug.

She couldn't believe what she had done. What _they_ had done.

Without breathing, without trying to make out a single sound, Gabriella attempted to turn around, hearing the soft grunt of unconscious protest from the other person as her eyes widened. Troy's peacefully sleeping face greeted her sight, as her eyes grew more and more horrified at what had happened.

She was a home wrecker.

She was a third person.

"_What have I done?"_ Gabriella's eyes widened as they became flushed with hot tears that she blinked furiously to keep back. How could she have been so reckless? How could she have let her guard down like this? She had shown up the night before, solely with the intention of wanting to make sure her professor had been ok with the rumors on the newspaper. He had grabbed her and kissed her, but she should have fought back! He was in such a fragile state, she should have known better!

_But the rush of heat that flowed through her body, that stopped her heart and brain. That feeling that had always been just within grasp hit her like a freight train the moment their bodies connected._

"_I have to get out._" Gabriella's mind chanted. She needed—no fought to ignore the sinfully bewitching whispers from the depths of her mind. She needed her logic. She needed her sanity. As quietly and carefully as she could manage, she pried Troy's sleeping hands away from her waist, loose enough for her to slip out as quickly as she could. Clutching the pillow to her body, she held her breath as she watched him shuffle at the movement, before becoming still.

The rest was a blur. She flew around the room, desperately trying to remember where they had thrown her clothes, with only a single goal in mind.

To get out.

Slipping on her jeans, camisole and sweater, Gabriella made her way out the door. She took a look back, and for a second watched as Troy breathed peacefully from his position in the bed, the top part of him left uncovered and open for the world to see.

Gabriella swallowed the growing lump she had in her throat and she quickly left the room.

Just like the office back at school, the room she had left behind had suddenly become a different world, separate from the current reality she was in. It pulled her back stronger than the gravity that currently held her to this earth and it took all she had for her to return to her own room just a few doors down.

As quietly as possible, Gabriella snuck in, breathing out a sigh of relief when she saw that Kelsi was still asleep. She needed to come up with a reason if Kelsi had noticed she hadn't returned for the night, but the aching in her muscles and the slightly discomfort she felt between her legs drove her mind elsewhere—towards the night she now deemed forbidden.

"G-Gabby?" a groan came from Kelsi's bed and Gabriella froze. Kelsi opened a lazy eye, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "Gabriella did you just come back?"

"U-Uh I-no, I just stepped out for a bit." Gabriella quickly stuttered,

"What time did you come back last night you weren't back yet when I fell asleep?"

"Pretty late I really didn't want to wake you up. Go back to sleep Kels we still have some time before we need to wake up," Gabriella said quickly hoping to divert her friend's attention, "I'm going to take a shower." And she quickly escaped to the washroom on her right, slamming the door shut before any more questions could be shot her way, because truth be told, she had no idea how she would answer them.

She barely had answers herself.

Stripping again (and in the back of her mind she felt the odd sensation of feeling someone else's hands stripping the clothes off her body), she turned the shower to hot, and stepped in, slightly hissing as the hot water pounded on her body, running down her skin, leaving a burn trail.

She took a towel where she gently started to clean herself, starting with her inner thighs, seeing the smoky white remnants of the night before. Even lifting her leg proved to be an achingly painful job, she carefully dabbed, in desperation to wash away any potential evidence of the night before.

How was she supposed to face him now? After what they had done? After what she had done?

"_He kissed you first. He's the professor, if anyone were to find out, what would they think? They would never think that you wanted it just as much." _Her mind whispered

But she didn't want him to be blamed! He kissed her first, but dear god did she want more. To say she was forced into it would have been a lie, she had gladly succumbed to the want that had been tormenting her body since their times in his office. In a game of two, she was definitely the second participant.

"_I'm just as guilty…if not more. I just slept with a married man!"_ the panic began to bubble in her stomach as she stayed in the shower for the remainder of her thoughts. So long and so occupied she failed to realize the shower had reduced the washroom into a foggy mess, and Kelsi had begun to knock at the door, asking if she was ok.

Turning the knob Gabriella swallowed. She would have to go about the day with a mask, to go about as if nothing had changed and nothing was wrong. She needed to do this, she owed him that much to forget the night that sent her body wreathing and shaking, that _still_ sent her heart quivering.

Taking a deep breath she quickly wrapped a robe around her rosy body. She could do this. She could lie. She would hide and she would pretend all was right in the world.

After all, it couldn't be this hard to hide from one person.

XXX

Troy couldn't remember getting a good sleep in the longest time. There was always something that woke him up. His incessant alarm clock, or Sharpay's incessant alarm clock, or it would be some argument the two had had the night before, and the moment his mind resembled anything close to consciousness, the argument with attack him so that he would have no choice but to wake up.

But no, his mind was currently in a blissfully blank state.

So unused to his rare bliss, Troy began to come to consciousness, as his body began to regain its movements and becoming aware of his surroundings. He was in bed, that he was sure of, but there was a sense of aching tiredness that settled in his body. It was a type of aching he hadn't felt in a long time, the type that made him feel complete, the type that he had felt mostly during the beginnings of his marriage, before the fights, and before the unbearably awkward silences.

Slowly opening his eyes, he found his world turned horizontal from his position in bed. Stretching he froze. The silk European sheets felt soft and comfortable against his bare skin, but there should be no reason why his _entire_ body should feel this bare comfort…should there?

_His mind went blank, seeing only the brunette in front of him._

_Her whispers, her ghostly brushes, her gaping mouth, uneven gasps, and the way her body felt in his arms as he held her to him, gasping and frozen as the waves of pleasure overtook them. Her flushed cheeks, his skin sleek with sweat…_

Troy's eyes shot opened, shooting out of bed. His instantly looked to his side to find it empty. He ran a hand over the now cooled spot, if he didn't know better, there would have been no indication that another human being had just spent the night there, but he did.

He could remember, every touch, every smell, every kiss and every whisper and caress as he explored her body to his desire, and she opened up to him…

"_Fuck."_ He could barely scramble out of bed, so tangled in the bed sheets. What on earth had he been thinking? No. _Why_ had he _not_ think! She was his student! His _student_! In the back of his mind he could not help but be in relief that she was not a minor—but _god_! What had he gotten himself into? How could he had lost such control?

He was at fault, this was his fault. He should not have let his guard down, should not have been so easily tempted by what had been in front of him. _She stood right there, in front of him, so close he only needed to stretch his arm and they would touch. The burning in him intensified, the monster roared_. He should have kept a hold on himself, should have never let her in.

_But she was so temptingly close, just inches within his reach. Her lips tasted like the most sinful drug and she did not refuse_.

Troy found his way into the washroom, staring at his reflection. His body looked no different, but he could make out the faint red marks where fingers had scratched down his arm, and grasped at his back during that night of pleasure. Red crescents marked and dotted parts of his shoulders, and he could feel the ghostly clutches of the hands that did this clutching onto him while he had pounded her into the clouds and beyond.

_Hot, warm and welcoming—that was what she had been_.

STOP! Troy groaned, closing his eyes. He would not remember the night before, he had to block the flow of burning passion that ran through his veins even by just the thought. He quickly turned on the shower, the water turned to a freezing cold, refusing to let his body react to what he knew was his mistake.

She was his student, he her professor. God he was _married_! She had come to check on him out of the goodness of her heart and he?—he had chosen to take this opportunity and use it to his advantage.

How could he live through this? How could _she_ live through this? It didn't matter how willing she had been, he should have been in more control of himself.

But Troy could not forget the tempting and addictive touches from her fingers to her kisses to their intimate proximity to each other. They had shared their body heat and so much more.

"Stop. This is wrong. You know it's wrong." Troy muttered to himself. He turned the shower off, stepping out and drying himself off.

This would not leave this room. This would not leave his mouth. He would hunt her down, take control of this monster in him, and apologize to her even if a thousand apologies would not make up for what he had done. This would be treated as something that had never happened, that will never be mentioned, and fade into oblivion into the back of their minds.

They would continue with their lives, he with his, and her with hers, and let this night, this single night fade from their minds and away from their memories. As if it had never existed.

It shouldn't be hard, Troy convinced himself, it was only one night.

XXX

"Hey are you ready?" Kelsi beamed as Gabriella came back out in jeans and turtleneck. Gabriella nodded stiffly, offering a smile.

"Are you alright?" Kelsi asked as they made their way down. Gabriella started,

"I-I'm fine why?"

"You're wearing a turtleneck, it can't be that cold." Gabriella laughed, hoping her mind that it didn't sound as nervous as she thought it did,

"I must have caught something…I'm a bit cold. Don't worry." Gabriella said quickly. She hoped Kelsi would drop the topic. She was never one good at lying, and her brain could not work fast enough to come up with reasons why she would, indeed, be wearing a turtleneck in weather suitable for a casual t-shirt or sweater.

"Are you sure? You sure you're not hiding anything?" Kelsi smirked.

"No! Why would you think that?" Gabriella started quickly. Kelsi held her hands up,

"Relax Gabby, I was just kidding. You're so tense, you really _aren't_ hiding anything are you?" the auburn brunette asked suspiciously. Gabriella laughed nervously,

"O-Of course not Kels, sorry, I guess I'm just not used to staying in a different country…you know…jet lag…" Gabriella trailed off as they entered the noisy breakfast room, mostly filled with students from their band. Kelsi and Gabriella quickly grabbed their breakfast and found an empty table.

"Aren't you super excited for the performance? I mean this is our last rehearsal before the official show, what if we make a mistake?" Kelsi rambled, "I had a dream last night that we were performing, and then suddenly I was the only one playing and I ended up playing the wrong piece and Professor Bolton threw me out the window!"

Gabriella coughed, partly choking on a piece of orange she was eating from Kelsi's dream, and partly because her brain had unconsciously picked up their professor's name.

"I-I'm sure you're just nervous, don't worry Kelsi." Gabriella tried to comfort her friend.

"It was scary, I mean he just picked me up like I was nothing and threw me! I literally felt I was dropping!"

Gabriella couldn't help but agree at the scariness of the feeling of dropping, because she felt her stomach drop as her eyes caught Troy entering the breakfast room. Maybe it was because of the night they spent before, or perhaps Gabriella was now just extremely paranoid of her surroundings, but she found his eyes almost at once, and as did he. They stared at each other for what felt like the longest second of their lives, before their gaze broke, turning away from each other. Troy headed for the coffee table, and Gabriella reverted her attention back to Kelsi who had stopped recounting her fear of falling out of a window.

Gabriella ate her breakfast silently, but she couldn't help but look up and spot that particular blue eyed music professor. Like the marks she had on her neck, she could almost imagine the scratches she could have left on his body.

"_Stop! You're not supposed to think about it remember?"_ Her mind chided her. Gabriella coughed, reverting her eyes down. It was going to be hard to look at him for practice today, and when students would begin questioning just why Professor Bolton looked like he scratched himself, she would look down, and swallow to drown the dull burning that now remained consistent in her guts.

XXX

There was no such thing as sight-seeing for the young musicians from Julliard's. The moment they stepped onto the streets, it was straight into rehearsal for them. Troy could understand why his young students wouldn't be able to focus, after all there were hundreds of years of history in just the sidewalk they were stepping on, and he was expecting their young minds to be focused on the hours of rehearsals he had planned.

He couldn't blame them, not when he, himself could not fully concentrate.

Oh, he could pass by one of the seven wonders of the world, and he would not be bothered, save for the petite brunette that walked just a few feet away from him, chatting away as if she had no care in the world. As if he didn't know why she would be wearing a turtle neck in this warm weather, and as if she didn't know why he kept looking her way. He couldn't look at her, but he couldn't bear to look away.

He was turning into some sort of sick pervert. He felt like he was prowling and hunting an innocent, unsuspecting prey.

Maybe he was.

"In your seats, warm up for 5," he shouted to his young group as they scrambled around the studio. The day was looking to be simple, practice, break, practice, get on the bus, and threaten his students to be in their room so that they won't be late for their dress rehearsal the next morning.

For now, the fairly large group was currently in a small studio, struggling to fit in their seats without having a trombone slide flying in their face, or a drumstick up someone's…well not somewhere it's meant to be.

"We're going to suffocate in here!"

"If I wanted to suffocate I would have just stood in the middle of Time Square,"

"I could've sworn I brought _music_ students and not drama students," Troy smirked as he watched his group settle down.

"Aw Professor we're going to be claustrophobic here!" shouted a bass player from the back.

"Unless you guys want me to yell at you in the middle of England I'd suggest getting comfortable," Troy said, the few whispers of complain dying down, "Look I know it's a hard situation, but we'll be doing dress rehearsal in the theatre tomorrow, and in front of nearly thousands of people, I don't think you'd be wanting to make mistakes,"

Silence.

"Exactly what I thought. It'll get warm in here so I suggest saving the talking, and do more playing."

It was pure stupidity, wearing a turtleneck. Gabriella was already chiding and mentally berating herself as she wiped another bead of sweat from her forehead for god knows how many times. She could have just used some foundation to cover whatever marks on her neck.

"_But in this temperature it probably would have started washing off with the amount I'm sweating."_ She thought to herself.

It was definitely not exaggerating to say that the room was enough to feel equivalent to a small boiler room. Gabriella was beginning to regret not just wearing an outer sweater, at least then she could've shed some layers. At this point, her band mates would probably be more occupied with focusing to stay upright and finding some sort of water bottle than they would be interested to her marks on her neck.

Hell, she was probably red enough right now that no one would even notice a hickey on her neck.

"Gabs you alright you look terrible." Kelsi whispered from in front during her rest in between pieces. Gabriella mildly glared at her,

"Thanks," she mumbled sarcastically, "I'm boiling right now."

"Take it off then."

"Kels, I have literally _nothing_ underneath what I'm wearing."

"So? Professor Bolton looks like he's ready to take his shirt off." And that brought Gabriella's attention to the front. Troy, as gallant as he was to suffer the heat with them, was doing no better. He might not be playing an instrument, but his intensive conducting and focus on every detail and every sound had made him into a bubbling mess. His own face was shaded red, and he had long forgone his black blazer, his tie was askew and loose and the buttoned up shirt he had on was already half unbuttoned and looked ready to fall off any minute.

Gabriella gulped. The scene was oddly familiar, _too_ familiar.

She quickly looked down, and brought her flute up in time to join her group in playing their next section. It was the climax of their piece, and behind her the timpani rolled in a deep rumbling crescendo of suspense. Each instrument began joining in, fitting into their own part as the dissonance between the flutes and the clarinets floated above the noise, creating just enough noise to prove uncomfortable to the ears, but not enough to take way from the majestic yet horrific suspense the piece was meant to portray. The onslaught of noise jumbled in Gabriella's mind, as she blinked to refocus her mind.

She tried to take a breath, but the heat of the room and her turtleneck was suffocating her airway, nothing got in and nothing came out. She put down her flute, attempting to raise her hand to signal a stop so that she could breathe, but she couldn't even remember doing that.

All she remembered was the room swirling in her eyes, and her heart pumping too fast and too heatedly for her body to cool it down.

"K-Kels," she remembered stuttering, but how on earth was her friend to hear her in such a dramatic climax? Suddenly the room got too bright, and she muttered the only word she could think of,

"T-Troy…"

The world tilted around her, and she wondered why everything suddenly seemed horizontal. Someone screamed her name, and suddenly the deep rumblings, and the climax of notes stopped ringing in her ears, but she still couldn't breathe. There was a clattering, someone gasping (Kelsi?) and then she could see a pair of feet rushing towards her, chairs and stands scrapping against the concrete floor.

Troy took another shuddering breath as he brought his band to a climax. His eyes narrowed, passionately directing each and every corner of his group, sweeping over the entire band. Yes. This was it. This was their climax. Their moment in the piece. The connection, the completion, every single piece that inserted itself fitted completely and perfectly into their circle. It was perfect, climactic and passionate.

Passion. Troy closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Passion and expression. He opened his eyes, automatically drawn to her. Her face was flushed red, and the tips of her hair were matted against her cheeks from the heat of the room. Troy diverted his gaze from her, attempting to refocus his mind. Those flushed cheeks, matted hair, and shimmering, glazed but focused eyes was now personal to him, _too_ personal. It held a different meaning, something he couldn't help but think about, but dare not approach lest he drop his guard again.

As their piece came to its dramatic conclusion, her movement caught his attention. He watched as she placed her flute down—was there something wrong? She tried to raise her hand, but it dropped as if suddenly losing strength. Kelsi, from the first row looked back, hearing noise and she suddenly screamed, stopping the band cold. Gabriella blinked, and for a second she mouthed something Troy could not hear. But then, and he swore it happened in slow motion, her dazed out eyes looked up to his, and her lips whispered out something he heard clear as day,

"Troy…"

And he jumped from his stand, pushing stands and chairs and people away in his mad scramble to get to her. She felt from her chair, the group gasping and shouting as they crowded around her. Kelsi knelt next to her in panic and Troy dropped onto his knees in an instant. Without hesitation, he looked at her dazed and flushed red face, and without hesitation, placed his arms around her, her weight, body frame and curves still all too familiar to him.

She attempted to open her eyes but everything was a blur save for a familiar shade of auburn hair and something blue, something sparkling and something heated that she hadn't been able to get out of her mind.

Then black.

* * *

**A/N: Please accept my most sincere apology for such a late update! I've hit the dread writer's block after my vacation and I've been sluggishly working on this chapter. I'm not particularly pleased with it, as it looks too much like a filler, but there's too much to cover, especially what happened in the last chapter, to finish all in one. Please be patient with me as I write and enjoy your continued support!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Alive**

* * *

"Stand by in 5! Stand by in 5!"

The scene behind the curtains could only be called a qualified mess. The backstage was what one would call organized chaos. Things were detailed and planned down to the second, and yet the people running around like headless chickens and a hundred people shouting a thousand different things made those who were not trained for this type of chaos feel like running and hiding under the nearest rock.

Such scene found the young adults of Julliard's feeling like they had just entered a scene from a movie, and something, or someone, somewhere was about to spontaneously combust at any second.

"Oh my god where is my music?"

"Where's the camera-wait will there be cameras?"

"My reed, oh my god, Professor I just broke my reed!"

The stage crew weren't the only one feeling the nerves and pressure of the night. The young group could feel the growing and mounting stress of opening in one of England's grandest theatre, in front of their biggest audience yet, for what would probably become one of the greatest, if not the greatest nights of their young, musical life.

"Brenda its fine, it's just the press. Vanessa your reed...reeds!" Troy was in no better shape. As much as he tried to pull it together, his mind was in a million different places, with twice that amount of things running through his head, and he could not process it fast enough.

"I have extra, it's here. And I have a copy of Ashley's music if she needs it," Gabriella swept in seamlessly, taking over the issues that randomly came up. Troy was immediately silenced at the way she seemingly effortlessly glided in, filling in the holes that the student's nerves were digging, flowing through the group like a river would, calming things down.

How did she do it?

How did she look like not a single thing in the world was bothering her, when even just the scent of her presence sent Troy insane?

_"Last night..."_

_"It's nothing."_

_"I can't..."_

_"You have to."_

"Professor!"

Troy jolted out of his reverie when one of the stage helps caught his attention. His eyes drifted back to Gabriella, who had sorted out the minor issues rising within the band. She walked over, and brushed passed him. Her lips were set and her eyes were determined not to look at him in any way possible.

_"Normal?"_

_"Yes like normal."_

_"I-I can do that."_

_"Can you?"_

_"Can you?"_

"Julliard's up in 1." Troy robotically said. They scrambled like mad ants for their places, some taking in deep breaths trying to calm their nerves. Troy cleared his throat, his own formal suit felt tight against his body, and his neck tie felt like it was constricting his airflow. His heart pounded in his ears; he was just as nervous as the rest of them. He felt like a father about to debut his child to the world and in the middle of that child was a jewel he couldn't look at, but couldn't help not to.

"Professor." a quiet murmur appeared. He looked next to him. Gabriella stood there, her body encased in a stunningly simple, yet elegant black dress. Her one shoulder was bare, the other one holding up a strap decorated in lacy flowers, the cut of the dress outlining her delicate curves, the dress ending just above her knees, and her legs stretching out held up by a pair of velvet pumps. Her brown curls hung delicately on the left side of her neck, bunched up at the back in a beautiful knot and its tendrils raining down her collar bones.

She was a delicate picture of elegance, and Troy could imagine (and could visualize) everything that the dress hid and bared.

The professionally done make up did well to hide the almost non-existent hickeys that Troy knew was there. No one else knew. Only he did. Only he would know.

"Yes." his voice remained impassive.

"You're scores." she said simply. She placed them on his pedestal, her fingers brushing the hem of his suit.

_"I'm sorry."_

_"I'm sorry."_

_"It was nothing."_

_"Absolutely nothing."_

_"Normal."_

_"Normal."_

_"Like it-"_

_"Never happened."_

"Ladies and Gentleman, this is it." Troy announced. The group looked up at him in silence. "This is it. This is the moment you will remember and want to remember for the rest of your lives."

_Never happened._

"Make this a moment you want to look back on and remember just how damn well you did, how damn well you represented the school, and represented yourself. Make this moment a moment you will never regret, and never let yourself regret."

_Like normal._

_Absolutely nothing._

_Like Normal._

"You can do it. I _know_ you can do it. You've worked hard, you've practiced hard, and this is it. This is your moment. Make me proud. And make yourself proud. You can do it. I know you can."

_Can you?_

_Can you?_

Gabriella looked up as Troy readied the group. All around her, her fellow musicians were breathing in and out, calming their beating hearts. Even Gabriella could feel her heart pounding inside her, as her body and mind prepared themselves for one of the biggest performances of her young life. In front of her, Kelsi was holding onto her clarinet, her eyes closed as her fingers meticulously went over her keys, her body subconsciously preparing itself and ensuring no mistakes were to be made.

Gabriella tried to do the same. She tried to remember all the areas which she found herself weakest in, to find the areas where she would mix up the keys, where she would sound the most out of tune.

But for the life of her she could not find the energy to do so. At what was to be one of the biggest milestones of her life, Gabriella was exhausted; exhausted from having to keep her mind thinking one way, and one way only. Exhausted by the fact that she had to live up to her promise, live up to the declaration she had made earlier on. She had to live up to it, and show him that she could live up to what she had declared they had to do.

That she could be normal.

She had questioned him if he could do it, while so determinedly saying she could do it herself.

But for the love of God she never knew it would be _this_ hard. She never knew it would be this difficult, to ignore the yearning in her body, the attraction that she could not find in anyone else but him.

Gabriella had been in love before. But she had never felt an attraction so strong to a person. The physical attraction that was like a string pulling her towards him and she was weak and defenseless to fight back.

Because she didn't want to.

She had never experienced someone having such a power over her; the power to make her weak in the knees, to make her heart literally stop beating, and literally make her wreathe in a torturous pleasure in such a way she couldn't ask for it to stop.

She had never been so physically attracted to someone before.

But for the sake of the position both of them were in, she had to stop it.

She had to restrain herself.

She can. She will. She has to

XXX

The grand red curtains raised as the spot lights snapped on. In their peripheral vision they could see the back stage crew running back and forth for second, third, fifth, sixth and fifteenth final check -ups, as the applause and din of the audience muted to silence. The young musicians could feel the thousands of eyes on them as they swallowed and took their last breath.

As practiced, Troy remained in the side wing waiting for the audience to be silenced. He took a deep breath and held his head up high as he walked onto the stage, his dress shoes clicking softly against the beautiful mahogany floor. As practiced, Gabriella, being in the center of the band rose first at the sight of Troy. Her rising signalled the rest of the group as the remainder musicians raised in unison in respect for their conductor.

It was a sign of respect from student to teacher. And Gabriella's breath caught in the middle of her throat as the spot light outlined Troy's form in his suit.

Troy stepped onto his podium, and signalled for his group to sit. His eyes swept over his young charges, and a smile appeared on his lips. They all stared at him with the utmost concentration, and he knew they would do well. They would do better than well, they would be great.

He locked eyes with Gabriella in the middle as he raised his baton. The group shuffled and came alive.

The first note escaped the tuba.

The beat was set by the drums.

The world that Gabriella and Troy were molded together to form one single, magnificent piece of art.

Signalled by the crash of a cymbal, for that single moment of time, there were no two worlds, and no two people, but one.

XX

"That was the most stressful 10 minutes of my entire life!" Kelsi squealed as the group was scurried off stage. Directed by stage members, the orchestra were somehow directed back to their waiting room where the rest of the things were. Seconds later, Troy came storming into the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Troy boomed, silencing the room quickly. His eyes swept the group in front of him, lingering at the left corner where Gabriella stood with a gushing Kelsi, he gulped, "That was phenomenal! Absolutely phenomenal! I have had people come up to me left right and centre telling me just how striking your performance was, and how if they did not know any better, they would've thought it was a professional orchestra playing, and not a group of young student musicians."

The group erupted into excited whispers and gasps,

"And that you guys are. You were absolutely professional tonight and I could not have brought a greater group to this stage, in Europe, tonight. Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank you for giving me a night I will always remember." And Troy's eyes locked with Gabriella's.

_Because I will remember_.

After that, the group quickly gathered their things as they were quietly ushered into the theatre. The stage was currently empty, being set up for the next act, and the Julliard students had a section for themselves at the second level on the balcony. They had full view of the magnificent theatre, and direct sight to the stage below. As quietly as they could, they filed in and filled the red velvet seats. Gabriella and Kelsi sat at the end of the first row.

Gabriella trained her eyes to look at nothing but what was in front of her and the empty stage that she had just played on. She tried to clench onto the rush of adrenaline she had felt a she sat on the stage, playing her heart out as if her life depended on it. In that 10 minutes and 52 seconds, her parents were not arguing, her family was not broken, and she was not trying to put on a mask and living two lies.

She was not lying to everyone that she had no family problems.

She was not lying to herself that what happened _that_ night was forgotten.

In those 10 minutes and 52 seconds, she was one among the crowd, she was not Gabriella Montez, and she was one of the 80 Julliard musicians playing to create a piece. She was not an individual, but a piece of a puzzle. In that moment, she didn't have to worry about hiding herself, because no one would see her.

"Can I sit?"

Gabriella looked up to see Troy looking down at her. His face was stoic and bore no emotion other than that of a tired conductor.

Nothing out of the usual.

Normal.

"Sure."

Simple answers. That was all it took. As Troy sat down, Gabriella trained her sight line to the front again. This was good she told herself. She wanted—no she needed to show that everything that ever happened was the past. It was just one moment, one night, and one memory that would fade from their mind. It held no significance, and they had both came to the conclusion that that night would be one that was just that: one night.

Troy had to bite his lip. Yes he was testing thin ice, and he would be lying to say that he wasn't the one on that ice. He was playing with fire, voluntarily placing himself in such a situation. But he was here to prove to himself, and to her, that he was a man of his words. He had said he would be normal, and he would. He would sit next to her like a professor would to any student, and look at her like a professor would with any student.

And not look at her the way his less logical self wanted him to.

After all, they had quickly agreed that that one night was simply just that: one night; a memory, a moment of pure emotions and instability, and a lack of judgement on his part as the older.

All they needed to do was breathe. Breathe in. And Breathe out. In. Out. In. Out...

Both of them placed their arms on the same arm rest, and their bodies brushed. Gabriella took her arm back like she had been shocked, and what little air she had was knocked from her body and she sat up, stiffly in her chair.

"Are you ok Gabby?" Kelsi whispered. Gabriella nodded her head robotically, refusing to look anywhere but at the front. The stage was already done setting, and as the spot light went on, she breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly glad that she would have something to actually occupy her attention.

"Ladies and Gentleman," said the Master of Ceremonies of the night, her thick British accent not lost on the group of American students, "It is my pleasure to announce our mysterious surprise guest for tonight. I am sure I am not the only one absolutely thrilled to have her tonight as we are all here to appreciate the series of magnificent art and artists with us. Please join me in welcoming to England, having just flown straight from Paris from her European promotional tour, American Broadway star, Ms Sharpay Evans!"

The room filled with a round of polite applause suitable for the grand theatre they were in. The group from Julliard's clapped as loud as they could while maintaining the decorum they were told they needed to demonstrate. But their eyes were excited and whispers went around as they all looked towards their Professor.

Did he know?

Was he surprised too?

Then what about the rumours from the magazine?

Troy sat rooted to his seat as his wife appeared on center stage below, shimmering in her pink brilliance, her blonde hair shining under the spotlight as she elegantly accepted the air kisses and hugs from the Master of Ceremonies, turning towards the audience with a polite curtsey and a gentle smile.

Her appearance took his breath away, but not for the reasons that he was supposed to have.

There was a shuffle next to him, and a lithe body slipped past him quickly, pushing the double doors opened and escaping the room. Troy was up in an instant, following her, not hearing what was going on from the stage below.

* * *

Outside the theatre, the corridors were silent as Troy made quick work of the distance. In no time, he had caught up to her as she tried to make her way in the direction of the bathroom. Grabbing her wrist, Troy pulled her off to a separate corridor where he found a smaller and empty waiting room. He closed the door and turned around. Gabriella stood in the middle of the dim room, her eyes downcast,

"Tr-" she caught herself fin time "Professor."

"Gabriella." She flinched. "Miss Montez,"

"I-I was just going to the washroom." She cleared her throat, and looked up, her eyes steely as she readied herself. Troy looked at her, with her jaws tight, eyes set and lips pursed in determination. She looked so stiff, so concentrated, it unnerved him. He took a step forward. She took a step back. He froze.

"A-Are you..."

"I'm fine!"

**_Flashback_**

"_I'm fine!" Gabriella sat up from her bed in the hotel room, her head dizzy as she realized a doctor was in the room along with Kelsi and Troy. She looked at her professor, and looked at the doctor, and fear raised in her throat._

"_Young lady, you just lost consciousness, that can hardly be considered as fine," the elderly doctor said, "If you will let me check your pulse," he moved for her neck,_

"_No!" Gabriella gasped. She looked frantically between the doctor, Kelsi's concerned face, and Troy's stressed expression. _"He must be worried the doctor will find the marks..."_ Gabriella thought to herself,_

"_I-It's fine Doctor. I just...I've been feeling under the weather lately...it might be jetlag and our constant practices I-I was probably just not resting enough." Gabriella said in the calmest voice she could muster._

"_Are you sure now?" the doctor asked,_

"_Yes sir,"_

"_Because you are of age, I cannot force you to undergo check up without your permission, although I strongly advise you to do so. In such case, I suggest getting some rest, and lots of water before your performance," the elderly doctor said as he packed his bags. Gabriella nodded mutely._

"_Miss Nielson please see the doctor out," Troy said in a strained voice, "I need to talk to Miss Montez."_

_Gabriella stopped breathing._

_Thinking it was about what happened and that Gabriella was about to get the classic "teacher-student" talk, Kelsi gave Gabriella a sympathetic look as she led the way. The hotel room door closed, and they were alone._

_The air closed in on them, and Gabriella looked away._

"_Gabriella."_

"_I'm sorry for being so careless." She said quickly, "I'm sorry for stressing you out, I realize what could have happened if the doctor had...had seen the...and I'm sorry."_

"_You...you think I was worried about being found out?"_

"_You should be. What happened l-last night..."_

"_Last night. Gabriella we...can we...we need to talk about it." Troy approached the subject sensitively, "Gabriella..."_

_Gabriella's heart raced. _"Please don't...I'm trying hard to forget."_ Gabriella thought desperately,_

"_Last night..." Troy said_

"_It's nothing." Gabriella spurted out quickly. Troy stopped, "I-It was...nothing."_

"_Don't gloss over it like it was nothing," Troy snapped unintentionally. His fist unconsciously balled into a fist. How could it have been nothing? How could having his nerves be set on fire, and his blood heat like it never had be nothing?_

"_W-we have to."_

"_I can't-."_

"_You have to." Gabriella steeled herself as she looked up from her spot in the bed, "I-it was...it was..." what was it? A mistake? The word choked in Gabriella's throat. Why couldn't she say it out loud?_

_Because it wasn't. Not to her. She couldn't call the race of adrenaline in her veins, and the course of fire and _life_ that rushed through her body a mistake. How could it be? Was it wrong to feel so alive? Even if it was because of the deed they had done?_

_There was little choice._

"_Normal." Troy interrupted her thought. Gabriella looked up._

"_N-Normal?" she said,_

"_Yes, like normal." Troy said stoically. Because two could play at that game. She wanted to brush it off like it was lint on her shoulder, he could do it too. Because he couldn't afford not to. He could afford to linger in one spot for so long without help. He would force himself to move, force himself out of the predicament he had put himself in._

"_I-I can do that." Gabriella breathed,_

"_Can you?" Troy sounded as if he wanted to challenge her. She looked at him,_

"_Can you?" she repeated._

_There was a moment of silence as their challenges hung between them in the heavy air._

_"I'm sorry." Gabriella whispered. But not for what happened, Gabriella thought to herself, but for the position they were now in._

_"I'm sorry." Troy repeated, not because he wanted to retract everything he did...but because he would have to bury it for the sake of both of them._

_"It was nothing."_

_"Absolutely nothing."_

_"Normal."_

_"Normal."_

_"Like it-"_

_"Never happened."_

_And just like that, Kelsi returned, and it was like a bucket of water had washed through them, and washed away every hint and any evidence of their previous conversation._

_If Kelsi had noticed, she said nothing. But as Troy left the room with a lack lustre stern warning of getting rest, he was wearing the mask of a concerned professor, leaving a sick student._

_What a thin mask that was._

**_End Flashback_**

"I'm fine." Gabriella repeated. Troy's eyes narrowed,

"You're not."

"I am!"

"Like hell I will believe that!" Troy exploded. Gabriella was taken back. He had never exploded on her before, she had never seen him like this before. And it scared her.

"Don't lie to me Gabriella," he hissed,

"Y-You don't know me," she stuttered. Troy's eyes narrowed. He had been walking on thin ice since their conversation in her hotel room, his mask had already been cracked the moment he walked out, attempting to pretend that everything was normal. He walked forward until Gabriella had no room to move back, cornered between the solid wall, and Troy's looming figure. His hands raised, and when she thought he was about to hit her, they landed on the side of her neck, his thumb roughly brushing the spot between her neck and collar bone. The foundation she had used to cover the hickey marks appeared.

"At this moment I know you better than anyone else in this hall." Troy whispered in almost a lethal tone. His deep voice sent shivers down Gabriella's body as she gulped,

"P-Professor," she squeaked, "We...we promised to act normal."

"Is this normal Miss Montez?" Troy whispered, "Because you've never walked away from me, never said less than 5 words to me, and yet you are now avoiding me like the plague. So tell me, is this normal for you, or was everything before just a lie?"

"I-I'm trying to be normal! I'm trying!" Gabriella said,

"Does this look normal to you? Do _I_ look normal to you?" Troy breathed out again, so close Gabriella could feel his breath wash over her like a sickening yet addictive drug to her body. She could feel her mind and her body respond, pulling at the restraints she had so desperately and crudely placed there.

"I'm going crazy Gabriella."

"I-I'm sorry—"

"No, don't apologize for that! I want you to answer my question. Is this normal?"

Was this? Gabriella looked at the blue eyes that held a fire that burned her very core. She felt the heat radiating from his body to hers, and the undeniable pull towards him. Was this normal? Was it normal and right for her to reject this desire she had for the man in front of her? This desire for this...this _forbidden_ man in front of her. Was the rush of life she felt every time he was near her wrong? Was it wrong to feel _alive_?

"N-No..." she breathed, answering her own question. As sick as it might be, as alluring and desiring and utterly _wrong_ she knew this was, she could never, with her own words and mouth say that what she was feeling was wrong.

"You're driving me crazy." Troy whispered. And before his mind caught up with his actions, before he had the chance to realize that the poorly built dam he made in an attempt to appear normal had crashed and burned, he already had his lips on hers, and her body on his.

Gabriella could barely make a noise as the lips unlocked her doors, and the crash of emotions and forbidden rush and desire devoured her body. Her hands clutched at his lapel, pulling him closer instead of pushing him away. She could careless her dress was crinkled, or that this went against everything they had promised, all that mattered was the way his tongue caressed hers, the way his hands weaved into her hair, brushed down her neck, traced down her sides, and landed on the side of her thighs.

All that mattered was his touch, and the feeling of being alive.

XXX

Kelsi looked nervously at the two empty seats next to her. She could feel something in her instincts pulling at her that things weren't as simple as it seemed.

"And as a special stage, we ask the man who just conducted the wonderful young musicians you just heard, and the husband of Ms Evans to come on stage. From the prestigious Julliard's School of Arts, and the conductor of the New York Orchestra, please help me in welcoming Professor Troy Bolton!"

The orchestra looked excitedly for their professor, and Kelsi gulped as she looked at the empty seats again.

His wife was on stage. So where was he?

* * *

**A/N: I wouldn't blame anyone if they hated me right now It's been almost a year since I've last updated and all I can say is that I am deeply deeply DEEPLY apologetic for such a long hiatus. Since the last update, I've entered and have finished my third, and second last year at University, and needless to say work and school has dominated my life. For that I apologize. I want to make sure everyone understands I will not give this story up and only ask for patience for my lacking abilities.**

**As for Troy and Gabriella's talk, if you felt that it was brief and crude and incomplete, it was meant to be that way. Clearly from their talk, absolutely nothing was talked about, and nothing was solved. They both tried to push it aside as if nothing happened. But clearly they were wrong since it was so easily broken, as seen from the last scene. Even though Troy is an adult, and Gabriella is supposed to be even headed, they fall prey to their hormones. **

**There is also the fact that Troy and Gabriella's personal life is less than perfect. Gabriella suffers from an unstable family and home and Troy is in the middle of the declining and cashing marriage. They find no solace in their homes, their significant others or families or their personal life, and their involvement with each other serves as an outlet for them.**

**As of right now, it is STILL hormones and physical attraction they're feeling mostly, although you can see that Troy has taken more attention to Gabriella's actions and body language and vice versa.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Free**

Sharpay was a trained professional at her job. Nothing and no one could distract her as she stood on stage, and the spot light was on her. She had been preparing since young for moments like these, and years in the industry had trained her to tune everything and anything out.

She was the best of the best. She knew it, and she showed it.

Not even the fact that she had left her husband a couple days ago with walls of ice between them could disrupt her from her mission today: to promote her show while simultaneously showing the image of a supportive wife.

Sharpay supported her husband in everything he did, as he did her. She would show up at his major events, and he would come with her to her red carpet events. They both knew the stresses of the job, and honestly both had gotten used to their job consuming their time.

There were times when Sharpay missed what they had been—young, romantic and idealistic. She would recall nights from years ago, as they spent it in each other's arms, or days of strolling together and sharing random stories that meant nothing at all to anyone, but meant the world to them.

That was then though, and this was now. Sharpay was no dreamer, she was a realist. She knew she loved Troy, and knew he loved her back. Work had driven them apart, and increased their arguments, but her mind would convince herself that it was all a part of the marriage process. After all, who had ever heard of a perfect marriage?

For now, she was working, and so was he. And as she waited on stage for his appearance, she thought of nothing but to show her glittering display of support for her husband's work. Because behind every successful man, was a woman.

XXX

Gabriella didn't know if time stood still, or time just sped past them. All she knew was the pumping of her heart that sent her ears drumming with the pulsing, hot blood that flooded her body. All she felt was the wall behind her back, and hands sliding down her thighs and up her waist. All she heard was her harsh breathing, mixed with his. All she saw was the stars behind her eyelids.

It was times like this that she felt nothing, saw nothing and heard nothing, but could fee, see, and hear everything and anything at the same time.

It was times like this, with him, that made her logical world turn upside down, and nothing made sense.

And she loved it.

All her life she had walked on a thin line that only went one direction; there were no detours, no forked roads to choose from—only what was decided for her, and not by her.

But this…this was new. This was not planned. This was not the straight and narrow, but rough, and curvy and dangerous and spontaneous and…exciting.

It excited her beyond belief.

And she grabbed hold of it the moment she got.

Because she was never Gabriella Montez, until now.

She was never herself, until the moment she took control in her hand, and made her own road.

And right now, all she could see, feel, hear and breathe was the man that brought out a side of her that was never allowed to exist.

"W-We shouldn't—c-can't—" Gabriella stuttered, as she clutched him closer to her. She didn't know if her mind caught up to what her mouth was saying, because it certainly contradicted what her mind—no her _entire body_ felt.

"Hmm?" Troy's half hearted question was muffled by the juncture of her neck.

"Y-Your w-wife." Gabriella managed to stutter. She felt herself tensing when he did a quick nip on her bare shoulder, quickly stifling the small groan that threatened to escape.

"Are you sure you're one hundred percent supporting your argument Miss. Montez?" Troy uttered in nothing less than a sultry tone, his lips leaving her shoulder, and eyes boring into hers. His tone of voice matched his position as his professor, and if she didn't know better she would've thought it was a regular lecture with a regular professor questioning her thesis.

But no, she knew better. No normal professor would be looking at her with such a burning stare, and smug smirk on his face that teased her without touching her.

"You still haven't answered my question," Troy smirked oh so devilishly. He traced a finger down the side of her face, and down her neck, crossing her shoulder and down her arm. He found it amusing as he saw the light goose bumps that would appear on her skin. But before Gabriella could answer, there was a rattling outside, and distant voices that brought them out of their rugged detour roads, and placed them back onto the straight and narrow path. Clearing his throat, Troy stepped back, letting Gabriella away from the wall as she straightened her dress. He looked at her, his stare not as intense, but the fire was veiled behind a thin, sky blue curtain.

"We should go." Troy said in a quieter voice. Gabriella nodded, fixing her hair. Gabriella walked out first, peeking out the door to check if the coast was clear. Once confirmed, she stepped out, but not before she was pulled back roughly by her arm. She stifled a gasp as a pair of lips pressed hard against hers before pulling away just as quickly.

"I still expect an answer." Troy said in a harsh, husky whisper. It was the only hint—and the only one Gabriella needed, that told her that the man who had been in the room just now with her, the man who had freed her inner self that had never existed, the man that made her feel so incredible, so amazing, and so in control, was still there.

And Gabriella hid a small smile as she walked back to her own seat alone.

Nowhere in the corner of her mind did a red flag pop up at what she was really doing.

And nowhere in her sight did she see a wisp of auburn hair disappear around the corner.

XXX

Troy stood in the side wings as he waited for one of the staff members to acknowledge his presence.

It may have seemed like forever in that room. It may have felt like eternity; but in reality, Troy knew that only a few minutes had gone by where he and Gabriella had been alone.

It only took a few minutes for their walls and barriers to fall and succumb to instincts and desire.

Troy had never known it was this easy to stray

He had always been one to follow the right path. It felt suffocating, to him, to follow the expected route. While he was by no means a man of adventure and risk, he was also a man who needed to have choice.

He knew he had chosen his wife and marriage by his own will. And he would never say he regretted it. At the same time, the idea of marriage had put a cap on his ability to let himself go. They were young when they had married, and his and Sharpay's marriage had been a life out of the movies until recent years. But did getting married mean that they would lose their passion, their spark, and the fire that raged in his body?

Troy had never known he could have such desire, such feeling and such…attraction. The feeling of overwhelming desire towards someone had fizzled and capped as his years with Sharpay wore on, and he dismissed it as marriage. As something normal.

Was love supposed to be something so mundane, and constructed and constrained?

Troy felt like a whole new person when he was with Gabriella. There were no rules, and no boundaries although there ought to be. With her, there wasn't just one road, there are many. Two times, three times, even ten times more choices than the single road he had been so used to taking. Those choices made his adrenaline spike. It brought back the raging passion that he had long lost.

And he loved it.

Even as he walked onto the stage to thunderous applauses, and the bright spot light hit his body, it was nothing compared to the heat he had coursing through his veins.

Even though he looked in front of him, with a smile plastered on his face, and a peck on Sharpay's cheek; as he beamed to the crowd as a show of thanks for his wife's support, all he could think about was the quick second of the stolen kiss he had taken from Gabriella right before they walked out of the room.

He knew he should feel wrong.

He knew he shouldn't be feeling what he's feeling so strongly.

He knew he shouldn't be imagining another woman's body as he held his wife in his arms and stood before the London audience, especially with his young charges looking at him from the balcony level.

He most definitely knew he shouldn't have been able to find her chocolate brown eyes so easily among the thousands in the audience.

Troy knew a lot of things, but there were a lot of things he couldn't control.

Like the feeling of being set free…with only one person who could do that.

But for now, Troy put on the mask he had been so used to wearing for the past 3 years.

XXX

Later that night, the students from Julliard piled out of the coach bus that had taken them to the theatre, and many sluggishly made them way across the lobby, and hoping the elevator would arrive faster to take them to their bed stuffed with soft goose feathers. There were light chatters and whispers here and there, primarily about their performance, and the appearance of their professor's wife.

The tabloid article was still in their minds, and like many young adults, their brain flared in comparison with what was apparently reported versus what they had seen, live, earlier tonight.

"Guess tabloids were wrong."

"We shouldn't really trust them anyway"

"Did you _see_ Professor's Bolton's wife? She's _gorgeous_!"

"Dude she's downright hot!"

"I loved her dress."

Among them, Gabriella and Troy blended in with the tired group. Gabriella had her head down, preoccupied with organizing the last of the scores. Troy was just a few steps behind her, occasionally pointing something out, in which case Gabriella would pause for a second, shuffle through her sheets, before giving him an answer and resuming her step. They were completely normal to anyone who saw. A student who was helping her professor in the throes of organizing paper work as their trip winded down to an end.

They only had one more day left. And according to the itinerary, it would be the only day the students of Julliard's would be able to roam freely around London without the weight of a national performance hanging over their shoulder.

As such not many people looked beyond the fact that Gabriella looked almost as sleep deprived as their professor did—mostly because of the swarm of papers in her arms that she was attempting to transfer to their ever so reluctant Professor. It was a man thing, they concluded, to avoid paper work, and a women thing to force it on to them.

Of course who would've noticed the subtle brushes of fingers on arms as the papers transferred over, or the hand on bare shoulder that lingered just a few seconds longer as he stopped her to say something, or even the warmth of one's breath transferring to the other as they spoke in hushed tones? There was also his palm on the small of her back to maintain her balance, or the smiles and glances that lasted just a few seconds longer than needed. Little gestures, because as unsuspecting as those eyes may be, they were still being watched.

"Ladies and Gentleman," Troy's tired voice boomed in the near empty lobby. The students paused in attention,

"Once again I want to congratulate you on a wonderful performance. You did the academy, yourself, and _me_ proud. And for that, I thank you." Troy beamed. The class roared in applause (or at least the best they could while still in the lobby. "Tomorrow is our final day in London, and will be your free day. Keep in mind that while there will be no chaperones, this opportunity has been given to you with the mindset that you guys _are_ adults, and are representing the academy."

The rest of Troy's speech was drowned by excited whispers as the young American adults excitedly planned what they could do while in a foreign country. As the group dispersed—whether into the late buffet still open or into elevators, a young bellhop approached Troy,

"Sir, your wife is waiting for you." The young boy said courteously in an English accent, gesturing to one of the vacant tables where Sharpay was waiting. Troy sucked in a quick breath, trying to quench the slight twinge in disappointment. Gabriella paused for a second,

"I'll take these for you," Gabriella said softly, taking the stacks of binders from his arm. Troy looked down but couldn't meet her eye,

"Hold onto them I will take them back later on tonight." Troy said clearly. It didn't take much trouble to decipher his real meaning.

"I'll hold onto them until you get them from me." She replied, and walked off to join Kelsi, who had remained to wait for her.

Clearing his throat, Troy walked towards Sharpay, who was watching him sitting comfortably in her arm chair.

"How long have you been here?" Troy asked,

"Not long. I pulled up not long after your bus arrived. I managed to slip in without your noticing though." Sharpay mentioned airily. "Did your performance go ok?"

"Were you not there to watch?"

"I went straight to the theatre after I had finished my schedule, so I didn't make it on time." Sharpay bristled slightly. She didn't know if he meant to say it in such a way as to make it seem as though she didn't try, but she was extra sensitive today, for more than one reasons.

"Thank you. For showing up." Troy said slowly and carefully, the words lingering on his tongue before leaving his mouth. There was an awkward silence between them, filled with things neither could fathom.

"Troy." Sharpay's voice was slightly softer, but also in a neutral tone that Troy recognized well as her 'press' voice. "About the articles."

So that was it. Troy bristled slightly, feeling the small bubbling of fury and annoyance in his stomach. Was he really in any position to feel like this? Especially when half his mind was occupied with speeding this conversation up so he could go back to a certain brunette he couldn't stop thinking about?

At the same time, this was his wife of 3 years. And the tabloid had not only hurt and stung him as a man, and a husband, but is professional image.

"What about the pictures?" Troy asked in an unintentionally steely voice.

"You believe me right?" She asked. Troy swallowed. Who else should he believe than the woman he had married?

"What are you asking me to believe?"

"Believe in our marriage of 3 years." Sharpay stated for him. Troy paused, their marriage, created and built from their love for one another.

What was love? Did Troy really know? Was their love what they _had_ felt during the beginning but had diminished over time? How did love feel? Troy didn't know anymore. It had been so long…and so dull compared to the reckless desire he had felt just hours before.

"I will believe in our marriage." Troy said neutrally. Sharpay paused, her brown eyes trained on the man who was her husband.

"So, who was that young girl who was helping you earlier?" Sharpay asked nonchalant. Troy had to train his body to not react at the comment,

"A very promising young flautist. She's helping me organize this trip in exchange for recommendation." Troy's fluid professional response spilled from his mouth like a well trained speech.

"I see."

"Your tone of voice says otherwise."

"I believe in our marriage." Sharpay repeated his answer before, "My plane leaves in a few hours. I wanted to stop by, and see how you were doing, and hope to have the article situation be put behind us."

"It is behind us."

"Good."

"Good."

"I'll see you at home then." Sharpay said breezily.

"See you."

And the two went their separate ways.

As Sharpay hailed a cab, and Troy entered the elevator, not once did either of them realize that they had put their trust on a legalized piece of paper, a societal construct of 'love', rather than putting their trust and belief on the other person.

XXX

The moment Gabriella entered her shared hotel room; she quickly excused herself, and grabbed her toiletries and fresh clothes, desperate to get under the shower. The warm jets of water relaxed her muscles as she leaned against the lavish bathroom wall, enjoying the steam that tickled her skin, and the water that washed away the tension.

She opened her eyes, straying back to the moment in the lobby. The small touches, the risky brushes here and there, the hasty looks to one another, all of it had sent her blood rushing in excitement. Never had she felt so…on the fence, treading the line between the safe and the risky. It felt deliciously liberating, to not have anyone control her, and to do what she wanted to do, doing the most risky of things under unsuspecting eyes.

People have always given her the image of the perfect daughter, the perfect student, never to go astray and step a toe over the lines. It had been so suffocating, and so confining, Gabriella had lost herself and her sense of control in the overwhelming pressure.

One touch from Troy's flesh onto hers gave her the escape she never knew she craved. And now she could _breathe_. Troy came in the form of an escape for her. Did she have feelings for her professor? She really didn't know. He was, no doubt, good looking, and could bring her all and more pleasures she had even known.

But was this love?

She didn't know.

But who did?

Gabriella quickly finished her shower as she threw on a pair of comfortable shorts, and a rounded neck t-shirt. Although the marks on her neck was all but gone, she would rather not risk them being seen. She could pull off the blotches on her neck as an allergic reaction…but it would be hard to explain the nicks on her collar bone and shoulder.

"Hey Kels you can use the washroom now," Gabriella announced as she towel dried her hair. Kelsi looked up, looking perturbed about something, "Kelsi are you ok?" she asked her auburn haired friend. Kelsi swallowed, wondering if this would be a good time, but a knock on the door interrupted her. Gabriella peeked through the peep hole, and her already warm body spiked seeing Troy on the other side. Clearing her throat, Gabriella turned around,

"It's professor Bolton, I have his binders. I'll just grab them." She said quickly.

"Actually I'm going to head to the shower…you know…wash the stress way. Make sure you grab your key card I don't want our Prof to see our…well you know." Kelsi gestured half heartedly to their suit cases laid out and bare opened. Gabriella giggled softly, nodding as she snatched her key card and the binder,

"I won't be long," Gabriella said. Kelsi nodded,

"Ok…be careful." Kelsi warned. Gabriella cocked her head in confusion at the vague warning but heeded her friend's good intention, and quickly stepped out. Kelsi watched the door closed and sighed. How the hell was she to know what to do?

When Gabriella appeared at the door, her hair curly, wet and messy, clad in simple shorts and t-shirt, it was all Troy could do to not push her back into her own room and away from the public corridor.

"Can you drop these off in my room?" Troy asked in a normal voice. Gabriella nodded, following behind him as they made his way back to his room. She hadn't been in there since…since that night, would it feel any differently now?

She entered with him, and her eyes briefly swept the room. Everything was neat and tidy again, the day cleaners had done a great job. Not a single hint of any activity other than a professor sleeping remained in the room. It was eerily creepy in a way…to be in a room where she knew it happened, but not a single trace of hint could prove it.

Gabriella walked to the table, and carefully set her load down, turning slowly, eerily feeling his stare follow her every move. If it were any other situation, she would've felt unsafe, uncomfortable at the way that someone was just watching her, but it was Troy. And it sent a whole new feeling through her.

"If that's all…" Gabriella said softly, she made a move to leave, but his hands shot out, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him. Her senses were assaulted with all that was Troy Bolton, and her head spun.

"Not quite," he muttered softly. His nose brushed against the crown of her head, and her shampoo wafted into his brain, muddling his thoughts. Her skin was still warm from her warm shower, and soft to his touch. It was so alluringly comfortable.

"K-Kelsi's waiting on me." Gabriella muttered quietly, her body relaxing against his. She could feel his arm wind around her waist, and it was leaning on his body that allowed her to remain standing.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Troy asked,

"Sorry?"

"The free day tomorrow. What are you doing?"

"I…I'm not sure. Going out…I guess?"

"Come with me?"

Gabriella started, looking up slightly to meet his chin, "S-Sorry?"

"Tomorrow, pretend you're not feeling well. Wait until the others have left. I'll pick you up." Troy muttered into the top of her head, getting as much of her scent ingrained to him as possible. He could feel her heart pumping through her t-shirt. Was she excited? Or was she scared? Would she say no?

"Okay." Her reply came out in the barest of whispers that Troy nearly missed it. It would've drowned in the pumping in his ears had he not been as bodily close to her as he was now.

"Okay." He repeated in a breathy sigh. He finally released her and stepped back, his eyes searching for hers. She had a light blush on her cheek, and shyly looked away. He felt the start of a chuckle erupt from his chest. It was endearingly adorable to observe her reaction, especially when he knew what else he could do to cause the same tone of red beneath her skin.

"Tomorrow." Gabriella replied softly. She pulled herself away from him, and quickly exited the room, leaving behind a waft of her shampoo, and a mix of strawberries and apple in her wake. Troy took a deep breath.

"Tomorrow." He repeated, and let a smile grace his features. T

Tomorrow—tomorrow they would forget everything.

Just for tomorrow.

**XXX**

A/N: _Not one of my longest chapters. Once again, I deeply apologize for such a long hiatus between chapters. I've recently completed a summer course to fast track my classes, and will be heading into my fourth and final year of University. Between balancing school work, and work life, it's hard to sit down and have the energy to write a proper chapter. Granted I hardly consider this a proper chapter, but I hope you've enjoyed it._

_The primary goal of this chapter was to give insight into Troy and Gabriella's own feelings—that is the feeling of breaking free. Both of them are confined to a very strict structure; Troy as the husband of Sharpay and falling into a type of routine life that he has found stifling and Gabriella as a daughter of a broken family, having to keep up the image and keeping everything to herself. Being with the other gives a sense of freedom that both have been deprived of. As much as it was physical, they are now beginning to emotionally rely on each other as well._

_P.S. Anyone having a hard time pinning the blame on either just Sharpay or just Troy? ;)_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Caught**

* * *

Gabriella would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous beyond belief. Actually, that would be a lie too, she had already passed the point of being nervous out of her entire being—now she was just frozen and completely paralyzed with the anxiousness that rushed through her body. In that anxiousness, she could also feel the hint and tingle of excitement, of daring and seductive desire that just whispered the risks and dangers that she was about to face by going out, in public, with her professor.

It scared her, paralyzed her, and excited her all at once.

So needless to say, it wasn't that hard for people to believe her when she said she had suddenly come down with something, blaming it on a bad scone she had probably eaten in the last few days. The nervousness that paralyzed her kept her still and clammy so that her fellow students and musicians could only offer her sympathetic glances and apologies that of all days she would fall ill, it had to be their only and last free day. Gabriella has graciously accepted their sincere sympathies, and assured them that she would be fine, staying in the hotel room alone, and that they should all have fun while she rested up.

Kelsi lingered behind as everyone filed out of the room, whispers growing into excited chatter about what they were going to do for the rest of the day.

"Are you sure you'll be ok alone?" Kelsi asked,

"I will, don't worry Kelsi, you should go have fun," Gabriella assured her friend,

"Maybe I should stay…just in case…"

"No!...D-Don't miss out on a free day because of me, it'll make me feel bad that I made you stay when you were so excited," Gabriella quickly recovered. Kelsi bit her lip, looking as though she was unsure if she should leave her ill friend by herself,

"Well maybe I should just let Professor Bolton know how you're feeling…" Kelsi said slowly. Gabriella could feel her heart palpitate at the mention of his name, and she was sure some red was tinting her cheeks,

"T-That would be fine if it makes you feel better," Gabriella said quickly. Kelsi bit her cheeks, nodding,

"I'll try to come back as soon as I can," Kelsi said,

"Don't worry Kels, I'll be knocked out from medicine anyway, so I'll probably try to catch up on as much rest as I can, take your time and have fun." Gabriella assured her friend once more. So it was with great reluctance that Kelsi left their shared hotel room, passing by their professor as he was on his way to visit his ill student. Kelsi went to join her other friends, sparing a quick glance back.

Gabriella _did_ look like she was uncomfortable…maybe she just thought too much, Kelsi decided.

XXX

It didn't take long for the room to be cleared before Gabriella shot out of bed and into the washroom. If she was right—and usually she was for these types of things—Troy would be walking through that door (or knocking at least) in a few minutes, and she only had those few minutes to go from being 'sick' to being ready for a date (Was this a date?) with her professor.

How was she supposed to look? Should she go casual—that way she wouldn't seem too eager. But then what if he interpreted that to mean she wasn't interested?

Gabriella considered doing her hair, fix her make-up and perhaps a cute skirt and floral top with leggings and boots—that was outside her normal wear…but this was also not normal. But then would she seem _too_ eager then? She had read somewhere that boys didn't like it when girls seemed too eager.

Would it be too weird if she tried to look sexy? She knew Kelsi had brought a black mini skirt that she would be able to borrow that would hug her body nicely. Paired with a pair of black tights and heels and some make up even she would admit she was ready to head somewhere to be noticed. But would it be too weird for a student to look like this for her professor?

Gabriella shook her head in frustration. This was completely and utterly ridiculous and hopeless. There was no precedent for such a situation like this. There was no guidebook, or poll or articles from the nearest Cosmopolitan to guide her in this. After all, who in their right mind would write an article on "How to Dress for a Date with your Married Professor"?

She finally settled for a pair of comfortable leggings, a floral tank top, and the simple leather jacket paired with a warm white scarf. Did she realize she had pulled on the jacket she had worn the same night they had spent the night together? If it didn't, it was because that idea was at the crevice of her mind, and if she did realize it, then Gabriella was probably more of a flirt and tease than she thought she was.

Outside the door, Troy cleared his throat and waited as the last of his students filtered out of the hotel room. If anyone asked, he was here checking up on a sick student under his watch.

Nothing out of the ordinary…to the naked eye.

A closer look would show that Troy had opted for a pair of comfortable black jeans, and light grey sweater that wasn't too large, but wasn't too tight either, hinting at the obvious physique he possessed. His hair was a tussled mess that fell alluringly over his blue eyes, and he would have to admit to standing in front of the mirror for a few minutes more just to make sure he looked good, but not to the point where he was obviously trying for attention.

When was the last time he had focused so much on his looks like this? One year, two year? It must've been before Sharpay and he had gotten married…back when they were young, clueless and innocent.

He tried to calm himself, but there was no denying that he felt like a teenager again, nervous at a level he never thought he would reach, and sweating in places he never knew could sweat (all of a sudden biology class just seemed so important).

"_Straighten up Bolton, you're a grown man, not a teenager,_" his mind gave him the all too familiar pep talk. But this time the pep talk wasn't that helpful.

He was a grown man, and he was about to take a young woman (the age difference far greater than he cared to think about) on a date…while he was married, after they had slept together, and had been close to doing so again less than 24 hours ago in one of the most prestigious performing theatre in England.

No, this was nothing like his teenage years.

Which was why he knocked on the door, and waited for her to show up in front of him, because this was nothing like he had ever experienced, nothing like he could ever imagine?

It was seductively and fatally attractive.

Gabriella opened the door and shyly lifted her eyes to be caught in a sky blue trap. Her heart fluttered and her body reacted to him standing there, and his soft but alluring cologne invaded her clean air.

She was trapped, and she was done for.

Troy's eyes slowly trailed her body and drank in the sight of her. The leggings encased what he knew to be tone, slim and powerful legs and—his breath hitched, was this seriously what he thought it was?—the leather jacket that he so clearly remembered unzipping and peeling off her body now encased her silhouette as if to taunt him that it hid what he couldn't (or tried not to) have.

"A-are _ahem_ are you ready?" Troy asked as casually as he could, failing to hide the break in his voice. Gabriella only let out the smallest of smile, whether amused at him, or that she was just as nervous. Either way, she nodded her head as she quickly closed the door, and made sure it was locked. She followed him from behind as he led her to the elevator and punched the button to go to the garage level. She looked up at him,

"It'll be easier if we avoid the main entrance, there's less chance in getting caught and…I rented a car for today so it'll be easier to go to places that the rest of the class wouldn't be in." Troy cleared his throat as he kept his sight forward. In his mind he felt like he was justifying all the reasons why he wanted them to be so far away, but deep inside he knew if someone saw, it would be the end for both of them—her life as a young teenager and his career.

Gabriella nodded, feeling red fill her cheeks. She knew there was a reason why they were so discreet, and for all she knew this could be the first and only time they would be out like this. But she ignored that fact purely for the fact that the pumping of her heart took over all sense, logic and reason.

Because there was no sense, no logic, and no reason in the situation they were both in right now. There was no black and white, they were treading, _swimming _even in the grey. And neither of them wanted out.

XXX

Troy had rented a simple small smart car that made it easy for them to maneuver through the twist and turns of England roads. Gabriella sat quietly as she gazed out the window, seeing history fly by in blurs, and people passing without noticing them.

England was such a beautiful place, she decided, full of history and a sense of calm despite its bloody past. There was a sense of comfort that she found in this country, a freedom she hadn't been able to feel in a long time.

And part of her believed that this freedom came from the man currently trying to get used to driving in a different side of the car.

"Where are we going?" Gabriella asked softly. Troy gave her a side glance and a lopsided smile,

"Coast line," he said simply, "I thought we could have some peace and quiet time there,"

The gesture, and thought of the whole idea was so simple, and straight forward it had caught Gabriella off guard. So far, their entire relationship (if this was a relationship) was anything but simple, and yet their upcoming activity was something so normal that it shocked her, and excited her at the same time.

"I haven't been to the ocean before," Gabriella said excitedly, clasping her hands in front of her like a child glowing in Christmas. Troy chuckled beside her,

"Really?"

"Really! My parents never really had the time to take vacation, and I was always taking extra classes…" Gabriella trailed off, clearing her throat at the obvious uncomfortable subject. Troy caught how she tensed as the mention of her parents, instinctively placed a hand on her thigh for comfort. His touch surprised her, but she accepted it gratefully.

"The shoreline is beautiful, it'll be a little cold, but it'll be a nice sight," Troy said. He then rambled on about the musical history in England, and Gabriella found herself hanging onto every single one of his words—partly due to her passion in music, but mostly because she couldn't help but be attracted to the sound of his soft, deep voice that matched his gentle blue eyes.

Their drive lasted a little bit over thirty minutes before Troy parked the car in a relatively empty parking lot. Slightly confused, Gabriella stepped out of the door, her senses instantly assaulted by a salty breeze and moist air.

"The ocean?" Gabriella squeaked her eyes lit up as she took in her surroundings before landing on Troy. Troy held a lopsided smile that sent her heart running as he shoved his hands in his pocket and shrugged.

"It's pretty far out from the hotel and main tourist district…" Troy trialed off, unsure of what to say. Truth be told he couldn't think of what to say when he saw her delighted expression and the excited twinkle in her eyes. It left his mind blank, and that was the only thing he could think of to say.

If Troy had caught the slight dip in her excitement at his words, he didn't react. Gabriella bit down the unknown twinge in her chest when he said that as she decided to focus on the view around her instead. She started walking off on her own, walking closer to the edge of the raised cliff where it was fenced so that people could not reach the shore below during high tide.

For the longest time the pair walked in silence, the sound of waves crashing onto the shore being the only sound between them. Troy couldn't help but be aware at their close proximity. It wasn't that he was making himself aware of it, he couldn't help but to be aware of it. The way the ocean breeze brushed passed her hair and mixed her scent with the salty scent in the air that served to wash him of all coherent thought.

What was his reason to bring her here?

There was none…other than the fact that the one thing he wanted to see was the same, blissfully carefree face he had seen when he first bumped into her on her first day at Julliard's. The look of wonder and innocent amazement tugged at Troy deep inside him, and he found it to be endearing. The past few days, she had not bore that face, and as much as he hated to admit it, Troy knew he was the reason. And he wanted to do something to see that face again.

He was limited to what he could do…both being in a foreign country and because of his position as her professor. As they walked by the shoreline, he found himself absently vowing that he would take her out again, to see that same blissfully carefree expression on home land. The fact that he had promised himself that this fledgling relationship (if this was indeed a relationship) would continue once at home slipped his mind.

"Oh!" Gabriella gasped, bringing Troy out of his reverie. He looked down and a smile tugged at his face when Gabriella toed around a shell lying on the sandy beaches. "Look!" She picked it up with vigour of an eight year old on Christmas and beamed at him, shoving the delicate object at him.

"It's a seashell," Troy pointed out the most obvious. Gabriella mocked glared at him,

"Thank you Professor Obvious," she rolled her eyes playfully, "I know what it is, just look how pretty it is!" her innocent beaming smile was back, paired with her rosy cheeks that showed her happiness. Troy wished he had a camera; he wanted to take a picture of what she looked like right now.

"You know what a seashell is right?" Troy said teasingly. Gabriella looked at him like he was insulting her, and he continued, "They're home to all sorts of sea creatures. You never know what might be living in there right now." Gabriella scoffed at him (_scoffed_ at _him_!), and made a show of confidently turning the seashell around to prove him wrong. No sooner had she done that, little legs and a head popped out. Gabriella let out an unintentional squeal, and flung the shell away from her, hitting Troy squarely on the chest before falling back down to the sandy earth, where the tiny shellfish scurried away.

Gabriella gasped and her hand flew to her mouth to hide her laughter, her eyes wide. Troy's eyes looked at her, and his face was blank. Gabriella had to admit that was the funniest face he had ever seen.

"I-I…I am so, so sorry…" Gabriella wheezed out breathlessly between her fingers. Troy blinked again, and it took him a full minute before he cleared his throat,

"Did you just throw…a shellfish at me?" He asked in such a simple way that Gabriella had to stifle her explosion of giggles.

"I-I swear I didn't it just—I slipped I swear…you should have seen you face…" Gabriella's sentence lacked all sense of coherency as she dissolved into giggles once again. Troy could feel the faint (and frankly foreign) rumble of laughter he tried to suppress inside him. Instead he bent down, eyes still connected to hers, and picked up the shellfish that tried and failed to scurry away. Gabriella's eyes widened,

"You-You wouldn't…" she whispered stepping backwards. Troy only smirked,

"Would I?"

"You wouldn't _dare_—EEK!" Gabriella squealed and shot off running to the other direction, Troy hot on her trail. There were only a few scattered people and couples here and there, and it made their chasing that much easier without worrying about bumping into people. Gabriella had no idea where she was going, only knowing she had to be as far away from the shelled creature as possible—that in itself was proving to be difficult, seeing as Troy had the stamina and speed that one wouldn't associate with a music conductor.

"Got'cha!" Troy shouted as he wound his arm around her waist, trapping her to him. Gabriella's laugh echoed in his suddenly hollow head as all he focused on was her warm body in his arms, and the way she struggled against him to be free.

"I'm sorry! I give up! Let me go!" she laughed struggling against him. The two failed to realize the looks they were getting from the strangers around them, some shaking their heads with warm and understanding smiles. Gabriella turned around, her cheeks red and chest heaving,

"I give up." She repeated with finality. Troy smirked, loosening his grip on her.

"No one _ever_ throws shellfish at me and gets away with it." Troy smirked in triumph. Gabriella harrumphed but had a smile on her face. As they attempted to untangle themselves, they unintentionally bumped into an elderly couple who had also been looking for a peaceful stroll.

"Oh! Oh I'm so sorry," Gabriella quickly apologized. The elderly lady smiled gently and chuckled,

"Not a problem dear," she said with a thick English accent, "Such a young and lovely couple, I remember the days when I pranced around as you did, with this old bugger here," she teased her elderly husband affectionately.

"I-we're not…" Gabriella stuttered, Troy blinked, the comment taking a while to sink in. His wedding band caught light in the setting sun, and he suddenly felt like a ton of rocks had settled in his stomach. Troy and Gabriella excused themselves politely as they made their way back to the car in a more demure mood than before.

"I think—"

"We should head back." Gabriella finished for him. Settling into the car, their car ride back to the hotel was just as quiet as the ride there, now with an unspoken shield between them.

XXX'

When Gabriella got back to her room, Kelsi was still absent. Gabriella knew that was a good thing because that meant that she had snuck out, and got back without anyone noticing her unexplained absence. But a small part of her wished her friend was there, and that she had someone to talk to about the hole she had dug herself.

She took a warm shower, got into her t-shirt and shorts and snuggled into her bed. Minutes after, the room door opened signaling Kelsi's return.

"Gabby?" Kelsi's voice was quiet and cautious. Gabriella let out a small noise of acknowledgement. She was supposed to be sick so that would suffice, and besides she wasn't sure how she would answer any questions Kelsi might have had if she asked after her health.

"Are you…are you sleeping?" Kelsi asked again softly. No answer. Sighing the auburn brunette quietly took her shoes off, her mind spinning in a thousand directions.

"Hey Gabs…did you…you didn't go out today did you?" Kelsi asked softly, expecting no answer. "You mustn't have…but why do your shoes have sand on them?" Gabriella froze underneath the blankets.

"Gabriella…we're friends right?" Kelsi was approaching her now. Gabriella could feel the dip in her bed at Kelsi's added weight. She could feel the weight on her shoulder when Kelsi placed her hand on her. She gently peeled the comforter back, revealing the back of Gabriella's head as she laid on her side, facing the wall. Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut, praying for her friend to just go to sleep.

"Gabriella…" Kelsi stopped for a moment, "you weren't here when I came by this afternoon to check on you…"

Gabriella's breath hitched.

"Gabriella…where did you go?"

* * *

**This isn't my longest chapters and I apologize. I know it's been a long time since I've updated, and I did promise to try to update as soon as I can. All I can say is I am sorry and that please bear with me while I finish up my last year of University. Work and school has been taking a toll and unfortunately I need to place them as my priority. So please bear with me and I appreciate all of your support.**

**I hope this update finds everyone well, and I wish everyone a happy new year and the best of 2013!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Moving on**

Special thanks to everyone who has continued to review, followed and favourited this story. **Special thanks to Ale X. Sha for being the reason I finished this chapter as fast as I could.**

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"Ok everyone make sure you have _everything _from your room, the academy will not be funding a return trip because someone forgot their phone—yes I am looking at you Lucas!" Troy shouted over the din of voices and wheels on concrete as the young musicians packed up and loaded the coach that would take them to the airport. Lost in the hubbub of paperwork and finalizing their return, Troy barely had time to breathe, let alone try to track a certain brunette he hadn't seen since their trip to the beach.

"Kelsi need some help there?" Troy offered kindly as the auburn clarinetist struggled to heave her suit case into the loading compartment.

"Um I'm fine, thank you…Professor." Kelsi stuttered slightly and out of breath. Troy nodded, citing the awkwardness in her voice but he brushed it off; everyone was busy trying to get their things in order to return home, and he didn't expect his students to be morning people at 5AM.

"Professor! Professor I need to go back upstairs I-I can't find my phone!"

Troy groaned,

"Lucas I warned you!"

Kelsi squeezed her way past her fellow students and met up with Gabriella, who was at the back with her suitcase by her side, hands full with loose sheets of paper and music scores she was hopelessly trying to arrange standing up.

"I have no idea how you do it," Kelsi let out a breath. Gabriella looked up, caution in her brown eyes,

"Do what?"

"Just… being so close with…_him_." Kelsi emphasized. Gabriella's heart raced,

"I…I'm sorry." Gabriella whispered, "I didn't mean to just…spill everything and now it's making it hard on you."

"No! No, no I didn't mean it that way I just…Gabby I'm sorry I should have watched what I said."Kelsi said guiltily, "I didn't mean that I just…god Gabby how do you even breathe around him?"

Gabriella let out a small smile. She wished she could answer the question…but even she didn't know.

**Flashback**

"_Gabriella…where did you go?" Kelsi whispered. The auburn musician gauged her friend's reaction; she knew Gabriella was not sleeping, she could feel the tension in her shoulder. Five minutes passed in dark silence, and Kelsi let out a slow breath,_

"_I won't force you to tell me anything…I know we just met…and I know we're not close and you don't owe me anything or any explanation…I just…I'm not the most sociable person. I didn't have many friends growing up…and I still don't. Being in the orchestra put me in a group of people that didn't care about how I looked, or what I said and just cared about the notes I played and whether or not I was in tune or not. It made me feel like I was a part of something and then I met you and just, we got along so well, and it was so new to me, and I wanted to be so careful and…" Kelsi took a breath, "I'm sorry I'm rambling…I just wanted you to know that you are a friend to me, a close friend and if there's anything you want to talk about…or to say, or to…I don't know vent…you can trust me…I hope you know that." _

_Kelsi had just stood up from the edge of the bed when she heard Gabriella's laboured breathing. Turning around, Gabriella started to move, and when her face came to view streaked with a line of wetness, Kelsi took less than a second to go back to where she was. She was expecting some sort of dark secret, but not tears._

"_Kels…" Gabriella's voice came out in a soft raspy whisper, "I think I made a mistake…I don't know what I'm doing or what to do…"_

_Kelsi could only hold her friend as she spilled everything that had weighed down on her for the past couple days. _

_Gabriella expected her friend to judge. But she needed a friend to hold her._

_And that was exactly what Kelsi did._

**End of Flashback**

Sometimes Gabriella regretted spilling everything to the auburn haired musician. She really didn't know Kelsi well, and now Kelsi had everything she needed to know to threaten her, or blackmail her if a chance ever presented itself. Hell, Kelsi could probably kick both her _and_ Troy out of the academy for good. But something about Kelsi made Gabriella want to trust her. Her new friend was warm, welcoming, and offered a sense of comfort that Gabriella, sadly, was not used to during many of her years as a young teenager, and then a young adult. Gabriella just couldn't help but trust her, and trust was something Gabriella struggled to believe in.

Along with what happened during their trip, Gabriella confided in the auburn hair woman the struggles she had with her family, and without asking, Kelsi had offered her house to Gabriella for as long as she needed. Gabriella initially protested, but Kelsi brushed it aside.

"I room with a guy, I could use another girl," Kelsi smiled impishly.

"Kelsi, you know I can't share rent right now…" Gabriella admitted. She had struggled hard to pay her tuition on her own, and pay for this trip on her own so that her parents could not hold anything on her. She wasn't sure how she was going to pay for school and rooming. Kelsi had brushed her off again, and mentioned that money wasn't an issue. Based off of what little Kelsi was willing to divulge, Gabriella got the idea that the young woman was well off on her own, not even including her family background.

So now, as Gabriella boarded the plane that took her and her classmates back to America, she had a place to stay, a friend by her side, a secret to guard, and a scattered life she desperately needed to put back together.

By the time Gabriella turned her phone back on once they had arrived at the airport, she had missed calls and messages left, right and centre – all from her parents, starting from the day she left to just 5 minutes ago before her plane had landed. Gabriella swallowed the temptation to call them back, and quickly turned her phone off once more, stuffing the tiny device back into her jeans as she and Kelsi waited for their luggage to arrive.

She felt like she was a little girl who got in trouble, and was trying to avoid punishment. She felt like she was being immature, running away from her problems.

"_But they're not your problem…its theirs." _her mind told her. Besides, she had walked out with the determination that she was going to run her own life, and she'll be damned if she walked back right after her trip.

The academy had arranged for coach buses to take the students back to the school, where rides would have been arranged by parents. Gabriella and Kelsi scrambled into the quick filling bus, and found a spot near the back where they took the hour long drive back to their school, and one step closer to Kelsi's rented apartment and Gabriella's new—albeit temporary—home.

It felt like Gabriella had just got onto the bus, and closed her eyes when the bus lurched to a stop in front of the prestigious academy, and students were groggily dragging themselves off the bus. Troy stood at the entrance of the school, greeting parents, and getting students settled and ready. As Gabriella waited for her luggage to be unloaded with Kelsi, her eyes drifted to the professor she had gotten familiar in more intimate ways than one.

Troy stood with his back straight, and his tie loose and jacket slightly crumpled. There wasn't a hint of jet lag in his eyes, nor were there any evidence of a long trip packed with performances, rehearsals and…many other unplanned events. He looked every bit the professor parents and students could imagine: cool, calm, collected and arms filled with paper, and face full of smiles as he recounted the performance and the students' amazing performance to present parents.

And yet somehow that image made Gabriella's stomach flips in an uncomfortable way, as if that very image was there to haunt her and remind her of what they did on that trip. Much like the way Troy's office felt like a different world after their first kiss, being back at home felt like an entirely different universe for Gabriella. All of a sudden, Gabriella could see, with such clarity, the professor in him, and she never felt so much like a student under his charge like she did now.

That thought made her want to run to the closest washroom, and lose whatever she managed eat on the airplane home. She felt a sick tingling under her skin as she watched him be a professor to all the parents waiting there, and the students who wanted to go home.

"_He is a professor"_ her mind said

"_He's more than that to you…he's a lover." _a softer, huskier whisper countered.

"Gabby?" Kelsi's voice penetrated her thought and Gabriella startled to attention. It was then she realized that she had spent the last couple minutes staring at Troy, and both Kelsi and the professor in mention noticed. Kelsi had a worried look on her, whereas Troy's ocean blue eyes pierced her in a way that made her heart race, and her stomach flop.

"Let's go Kels," Gabriella said quietly. Kelsi looked inquiringly, but asked no more questions (Gabriella was extremely thankful for that), and the girls grabbed their bags and headed to where a few cabs were waiting.

Gabriella wanted desperately to turn around, and see how Troy looked. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he having the same type of reality check that she was? Was he also realizing that now that they were home, back in their educational surrounding, their barriers and their titles meant more, and held more than it ever did before?

She should have turned around, because if she did, she would have seen the blunt and hard determination in his eyes as he watched her walk away without even saying a word. If she could feel what he felt, she would feel how desperately hard he was trying to push each other back onto the right track, to forget the temporary derailment they both experienced while they were away.

Even though the moment they derailed made him feel more alive than he ever did.

"_This is the right thing to do."_ he told himself. _"You are her professor. She is your student. Set the right boundaries … don't drag her down more than you already did."_ And Troy turned around, and put his professor mask back on as another parent came to greet him.

The hardest part of returning to a normal life, was trying to deal with a new life all at the same time. By the time 9:00AM rolled around, Gabriella only had time to grab a granola bar before dashing out the door of her newly shared apartment with Kelsi and the other mysterious male tenant. It took waking up and walking in on Kelsi's shower, then apologizing profusely, and forgetting she had left her suit case full of clothes in the hallway before she managed to make it to her 9:30AM chemistry class.

Talk about a full morning.

Other than her rather embarrassing encounter, Kelsi turned out to be a perfect roommate and a gracious host, offering the spare guest room immediately, and open invitation to use anything and everything available at the apartment. Gabriella promised and swore that the moment she got a job she would share the rent. Kelsi, once again, just brushed her off like she was commenting on the weather.

Gabriella had yet to meet the mysterious male roommate. She was usually in her room when her returned, and he was gone by the time Gabriella woke up. If she didn't know any better she would've thought they shared an apartment with a ghost, but the hint of male cologne, and the odd pizza boxes here and there indicated otherwise.

Intent on getting her life back on track, Gabriella settled on a routine: she would wake up for class, go through the rest of her day, head to the library, maybe a coffee on a particularly trying day, and then return to the apartment where she would either study or start on projects, or do job hunting through the local newspaper and online websites. On mornings where she was free, she found running around campus during the crisp dawn air to be refreshing, and peaceful.

Her music class was the hardest and most trying. She excelled like she never did before, quickly and rapidly becoming one of the best flautists among her peers, and perhaps the most dedicated. All of her energy, every breath, every single one of her pores went into the very notes that came from her instrument and her body, and she caught the attention of not only her peers, but the very professor she was trying so desperately to treat as normal.

Because Gabriella had called him nothing but Professor during the past several weeks since they had returned from her trip. She looked him in the eye with nothing but the intent to keep her pulse in the music, and keep her beat and timing; with no spark of emotion other than that of concentration. She spoke to him in a level, calm and logical voice as a student would who was eager to learn.

She was the perfect student.

And it drove Troy to the brink of absolute insanity.

_He_ was supposed to be the one to push her back on track. _He_ was supposed to be able to look her in the eye, and feel nothing but compassion and pride like a teacher would to see his students excel. And he definitely should be the one who was ok to see her interact with her peers, to see that smile on her face, and rosy flush on her cheeks.

He definitely SHOULD NOT be feeling a jealous green monster biting at the bottom of his gut seeing her interact with the male half of his band.

Troy then decided that if she could go on and act as if nothing happened, then he could damn well do that too.

After weeks of practices, Troy finally sat his musicians down to do a musician's worse nightmare: Theory.

"I don't want to hear groaning or complaints alright? You're all grown adults and know every up has a downside" Troy lectured lightly after he announced that they would not be playing today, but will be focusing the next couple hours to theory lessons. As his students shuffled out papers, notebooks and pens, Troy's eyes swept through the class without so much as a glance to Gabriella—something that the brunette caught, and forced her body to not react to.

Throughout the entire class, Gabriella's raised hands to answer questions remained ignored except when no one else put their hands up. Troy had the tendency to call on her more when she _didn't_ put her hand up and her head was down looking at her notes.

"Miss Montez please pay attention." Troy said shortly, making Gabriella's head look up in slight surprise and embarrassment. She didn't like the class turning to look at her, and she couldn't help but glare coldly at him. Troy cleared his throat and returned to his lesson plan. He was a teacher, and she was his student, and it was his job to make sure she paid attention.

The two hours was the longest two hours of Gabriella's life, and for the first time since her time at the academy, she couldn't help but feel relieved to leave the music room that was suffocating her.

"Professor Bolton was just nasty to you today!" Kelsi breathed once they were in a clear vicinity. Gabriella sighed, her shoulders slumping,

"It's ok. He's a professor he's bound to be strict" Gabriella said with a small smile. Kelsi made a noise as if she wanted to disagree but held it in; her brunette friend looked so tired, her eyes were dull, and there were light dark circles that indicated a lack of sleep, stress or maybe even both.

"Hey, my roommate is home early from work tonight, maybe it's time you meet the ghost of our apartment" Kelsi said in a cheerful voice. Gabriella smiled softly and nodded, it would be nice to know who she was living with, if only to take her mind off everything for a little while.

TMT

Troy knew he was being unfair, but when it came to her, solutions only came in one extremes or the other. He could not (and would not) afford to pick a middle ground, for he knew if he did, he knew exactly which side he would begin to teeter to.

As he walked into his house, he smelled the faint scent of pot roast cooking in the oven, and he walked to the kitchen to see Sharpay doing the finishing touches on some mashed potatoes.

"You're home early," Troy said. Sharpay looked up with a small smile. Things had been less tense once he had come back from New York. Obviously her surprise visit was still on each other's mind, and perhaps some more other things were on Troy's mind than hers. But at the moment it seemed as though they had come to some sort of a neutral agreement that they were neither here, nor there.

Troy knew he was being an asshole but he found a type of solace at the neutral and stagnant state that their marriage was in. Sharpay wasn't complaining, and he sure as hell wasn't going to. The fight in him was gone when it came to his relationship with his wife, all the energy he had in him was directed to ignore a particular brunette student, and it was so draining that he really could not bring anything else to fuel whatever the state of their marriage was.

So he basked in the silence that was between him and Sharpay as they ate their dinner in silence. After all, it had been weeks since they were both at home together, and when dinner was done, they withdrew to their respective studies, where neither came out until the other was asleep.

TMT

Dinner was a…messy affair…that consisted of attempted cooking and eventually Gabriella getting the better of their attempt to make a homemade meal and ordering take out from a nearby sushi restaurant.

"I honestly did not think casserole was that hard to make" Kelsi grumbled as they tried to clean up the remnants of crumble crackers, noodles and spilled milk. Gabriella bit her lip from trying to tell her friend that casserole _was_ easy to make, what wasn't easy was the fact that Kelsi Neilson, despite her accomplishment as a musician and loyalty as a friend had zero patience for everything else.

"It's ok Kels, I'm pretty sure your roommate will be fine with our take out." Gabriella smiled

"He better be. We can just set the sushi in the fridge, he won't be back until later since he works at a store in time square."

Gabriella helped her roommate quickly clean up the disaster in their kitchen, and before they knew it, the clock struck 9. Kelsi excused herself to wash up for dinner, and Gabriella soon heard the sound of jingling keys and the door unlocking.

"Kelsi Neilson did you burn down the kitchen?" a soft but stern voice said from behind the door, "I swear to God if the firemen comes here _one more time_ I am going to tell the truth and tell them you're a pyromaniac." Sandy blond hair appeared from behind the door, and a roughed up but clearly well loved messenger bag showed up as the young man locked his door.

"Kelsi's just in the washroom cleaning up, I'm sorry it was my fault too," Gabriella quickly came out from her spot from the couch. The young man turned around, and Gabriella stopped, her mind making quick work of the oddly familiar face.

"Sorry do we know each other?" Gabriella cocked her head to the side. The young man in front of her stared for a couple seconds, his lips lifting to a soft quirky smile,

"I must've made a crap impression. I guess I wasn't _that_ much of a help finding your classical music,"

Gabriella's eyes widened, and a quick but the truest smile she's had in ages appeared on her face,

"You're from the music store!"

The young man chuckled in amusement,

"Yep that's what people usually call me, the music store guy," he smiled in a friendly manner, "But on rare occasions, I go by Ryan. Ryan Evans."

* * *

**A/N: I must say I don't think I can apologize enough for the lengthy delay. I really have no excuse other than the fact that life got caught in the way. I'm in the process of trying to rework and get myself back into the storyline as I have left it dry for quite a while, but I will try my best. I really hope you will stick with me and as always reviews are much appreciated, as they actually DO motivate me to keep writing.**

**This is more a filler than anything, and you all deserve better than that. Again please bear with me as I reorganize where I would like this story to be headed.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I apologize for the long delay. Thank you everyone for sticking with me and having the patience of a saint, and thank you to new readers who have favourite and followed this story despite its erratic update schedule**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Stop me**

* * *

Just when you thought you were about to get your life back together, and that maybe—just maybe—you were getting into the swing of things, things never go your way.

What were the odds that the one person she had met among the crowded city of New York would be her new roommate?

Gabriella had to chuckle to herself later on that night as she settled herself in her new bed, new room and new home. There was something funny about how fate liked to play with you. Just when you knew what you were getting into, fate decides to throw you a curve ball and laugh as they taunt and tease you - _Let's see how you handle that!_

It could decide it would be fun to have you room with someone you probably thought you would never see again.

And on days when fate was really bored, it would decide that you should get insanely, unbelievably and undeniably attracted to your professor. Oh on those days, fate had _a lot_ of fun.

Gabriella groaned into her pillow. Her body could still feel and remember the tingles of his rough but large and smooth hands traced the curves and lines of her body. Her mind remembered the feeling that coursed through her body at every brush, stroke and push and by God did the pleasure that ran through her body leave a searing mark behind.

"_Get your head together Gabriella_," she chided to herself. She had been doing so well making sure she understood where she stood between the two of them. She was his student, and he her teacher. There was a very clear, solid and defined line between them and not even a single _toe_ could cross that line.

"_Oh boy did you cross it,"_ the devilish whisper caressed the back of her mind. Gabriella shook her head. Over the past few weeks after the trip she had managed to keep things as platonic as possible, and Troy had done the same. He had been nothing but extremely cordial, extremely formal, and borderline polite and indifferent towards her. Short of the few snaps and snips that he had towards her, Troy was just like any other teacher. He taught, he instructed, and he was brutally precise on every single breath and note that she had made. So much so that at times, she really felt like a student being berated by her professor.

"_No, you ARE a student, and he IS your teacher, and he is doing his job in making you into a better musician_." Gabriella scolded herself. There was really no time, and no reason to believe otherwise. After all, Troy had done such a tremendous job in separating the worlds between them, Gabriella decided that it was time she let go of her childish fantasies.

What happened, whatever _had_ happened, was never going to happen again. And she accepted that.

There was a bitter after taste in her mouth as she decided upon that thought, and turned the lamp off and plunged her room into darkness. She brushed it off as the typical feeling of a girl who had a one night stand.

As long as she focused on the bitter after-taste, she could ignore the persistent tingling in her body that still silently and secretly wished for those sensations one more time.

* * *

"Are you coming to bed?"

It seemed like that was the only thing they would say to each other. Almost robotically, Sharpay would enter into Troy's study, ask the same 5 words and predict the answers in her mind the moment the question left her mouth.

"You go ahead first I've got some more work to do." And like a recording, Troy replied, and it had been a while since Sharpay batted an eyelash at the answer. At the very beginning it used to bug her, the little annoying tug at the bottom of your stomach that you could feel build up and fill your chest; but now, it did nothing. Save for the slight twinge of hurt in her heart, Sharpay nodded silently, and disappeared form the hallway.

Troy waited until his wife disappeared into the shadows before he dropped his pen, rubbing the bridge between his eyes. How many times has it been since his return that he didn't go to bed with his wife?

Maybe it was since his body recognized and remembered so clearly how it felt to have another smaller, slender and warmer body next to him.

Troy had been driving himself to the brink of insanity doing what he felt was right. The right thing to do was to stop whatever this was—_if_ this was even a thing. The right thing to do was to focus on his role as a teacher, and her role as his student and musician. The right thing to do was to wipe away everything that had transpired, and start new. The right thing to do was to pay extra attention to everything she does, while his nerves work on a time bomb, ticking at every possible moment and ready to explode at the slightest click.

And let him tell you, Gabriella Montez had the key to defusing him or making him explode internally.

Every touch, breath, smell and look triggered a part of him he desperately needed to hide—both because of his job, and because she did not deserve to have her life ruined by a man who had the hormones of a teenage boy.

God the number of cold showers he's had to take the past several weeks. He could thank Gabriella Montez for lowering his heating bill.

None the less, half an hour later of staring into nothingness, Troy called it a night, and slowly made his way to his shared bedroom. Shedding his shirt and bottoms, he slipped into his side of the bed, weary of the dip in his weight, and settled into the cool sheets. Tomorrow would be like any other day—he would train his body to be calm, and behave.

If he was good at anything right now, it would be training his body to not betray a hint of his true thoughts, despite the rising difficulty to do so every single day.

* * *

The next morning, Gabriella slipped out of her room as quietly as possible. She had learned that Kelsi was not a morning riser and that when disturbed, the auburn haired sweetheart could turn into a fiery red spitball. So focused on trying to make as little noise as possible, she nearly ruined her entire 007 mission when she bumped into someone else.

"Oh-!"

"SHHH!" another large hand covered her mouth and stifled her gasp. Ryan had crazy eyes on him as he eyed Kelsi's closed door wearily.

"I'm so sorry!" Gabriella whispered. Ryan nodded his head, but said nothing as he kept his hands over her mouth and dragged her with him towards the front door.

"Quick, shoes on before it wakes up," Ryan said in hushed tones. Gabriella stifled a snort, just in case Ryan might cover her mouth again.

"It?" she whispered back. Ryan's eyes changed to a teasing twinkle,

"No human can be so dead when she sleeps. I thought I was about to die the first time I woke her up," Ryan smiled. Together they quietly exited the dorm, and simultaneously breathed a loud sigh of relief as they headed out together,

"Well thank you for saving my skin," Gabriella giggled. Ryan shrugged, and brushed his shoulder off looking like the most important person in the world,

"All in a day's work," he winked. The walked in comfortable silence as Ryan showed her the best bagel place she had ever been to. Not long after, they found themselves at the front of the academy.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to make you take me all the way to campus," Gabriella flushed. Ryan just brushed it off chuckling, "This is like my second home now. I've had to walk and pick up the sleeping monster more times than I can count. This may be the city that never sleeps, but it does get dark," Ryan smiled well naturedly. "Speaking of which, can I borrow your phone for a second?"

Gabriella handed it over to him. He took a few minutes to fiddle with it, punched a few numbers, and (to her surprise), quickly took a selfie.

"Here," Ryan said, "in all seriousness, when it gets dark, give me a shout and I'll meet you here. Otherwise she-monster will never let me live it down." Gabriella giggled, bidding him goodbye. It was barely 5 minutes after he left did her phone vibrate, and the most ridiculous picture of Ryan popped up on her screen with a text,

_**If anyone approaches you, use this picture, this will definitely give them a scare :P**_

Gabriella giggled to herself, her shoulders suddenly lighter. It was only for a little while, but for a little bit Gabriella had nothing to worry about than having a new friend to count on. Even though it had only been several weeks, she could feel the toll on her body as she kept up her image and pretense. It was a challenge every day going into music, and trying to drown herself in the notes of her peers and the sound of her instrument. She wanted to close her eyes and feel the music come together like a puzzle. But when she looked up even just for a second to check her timing, she would catch his eyes, and all the air inside her would vanish like she had been punched. It was tiring to deny something her body was craving so much. She felt like a junkie, dying for her next fix.

She was hooked and she knew it. She read about these situations in novels and books, about young girls who become addicted to another person so much so they couldn't breathe, sleep or think without them. But theirs had been love. This was not love. This was an affair; a toxic, forbidden, and devastatingly addictive affair that she had no reason to be in. Taking a deep breath, she did not see the familiar black beamer that had stopped at the parking lot next to the entrance, nor did she notice a pair of cool blue eyes watching her walk into campus, his heart thundering and quelling a jealousy unfit for a professor.

"_Gabriella Montez you are not making this easy."_ Troy thought to himself.

Weeks turned to months, and months led into Christmas, and soon the Julliard's musicians found themselves in the middle of exams, midterms, sectional tests and theory all scrutinized under the critical eye of one Professor Troy Bolton.

At this point, everyone else had noticed how uptight their usually relaxed Professor was – anything and everything could set him off, and students learned to tread lightly and carefully in his presence. Every morning as Troy drove to school, without fail he would see the slender brunette talking with a taller, and slightly older young man with dirty sandy blond hair. She would laugh, and the Christmas air will chill her breath and freeze it in the air long enough for Troy to know she was breathing happily and content. Every morning he walks into work seeing that, and every morning it manages to tick off yet another nerve in his body and his mood sours.

Gabriella noticed the change in her Professor, and so many times she bit her lip in an effort not to say anything (or even to offer comfort). It had become a routine for Ryan to escort her every morning to her classes, and she would be lying if she said it didn't comfort her in one way or another. Having a boy walk you to school just seemed so normal, and so… good and innocent that Gabriella couldn't help but continue to have that in her life, if only for those 45 minutes. It was a nice escape from her world, because every day she walks into her favourite class, and every day it becomes harder for her to pretend everything was normal. She knew she was no longer "good and innocent" when every night she goes to bed with a buzzing of longing deep in her body, and wakes up at night coated in a sheet of sweat, dreaming of blue eyes and a deep husky voice she knows she shouldn't be dreaming about.

Christmas season rolled around, and the Julliard's musicians were set to perform at the academy's annual Christmas mixer where sponsors, guests, students and potential students and scouts were expected to attend. Amidst the mad practices that Troy was putting them through, the young musicians were not about to forget the traditional Christmas party that was held every single year—even if their professor turned into a slave driver.

After one particular gruelling session, Kelsi cleared her throat, silencing the class and drawing the Professor's attention.

"Professor Bolton, when is our Christmas party going to be held?" Kelsi asked innocently. The group erupted into excited whispers; most of the first years (Gabriella included) bore excited but confused expressions. Troy groaned silently to himself- he had completely forgotten that he had created a tradition of holding a party every year. He first started it in hopes of getting his students to be more like a family so that they could work better together, and since then it had become tradition. But at the moment, with his body like a time bomb, having a party with rowdy teenagers was the last thing he needed.

"Ah… well guys we have a lot to cover in a very short amount of time—"

"Tradition is tradition Professor!" everyone erupted in protest.

"You always tell us to be consistent…shouldn't you be consistent too?" Kelsi smirked softly. Troy didn't know if he should be a professor and tell his snarky musician off, or be impressed that quiet little Kelsi was a fireball when need be. Caught in his own philosophy, Troy couldn't back down,

"Fine. We can have it at the senior lounge. But after this I want ALL of you to have your heads in the game, understood?" Troy glared. However menacing he was trying to be, it was lost in the cheers of everyone celebrating a well-deserved break from a grueling schedule, and even Troy managed to smile to himself despite everything.

As they exited the room, Kelsi looped her arms through Gabriella's, and the brunette chuckled,

"I didn't know you had it in you Kels," Gabriella teased. Kelsi flushed slightly but still brimming with pride,

"We do it every year, and it's your first year with us so it's something you should experience!" Kelsi declared, "Do you know what you're going to wear?"

Gabriella frowned. She had packed only the essentials when she had left her parent's house, and even then she never had an excuse to have anything particularly fancy or dressy. Her parents never really had special gatherings, and Gabriella never really went to parties, or formal events. The most formal thing she owned would be a black skirt or a summer dress.

"Maybe I'll skip out on this year's, and go to the next one," Gabriella said softly. Kelsi glared at her friend,

"No! You are coming to this!"

"Kels I don't have anything to wear…"

Kelsi stopped and glanced up and down at Gabriella, a smile gracing her soft features,

"I've got just the thing!"

* * *

Gabriella did not know what possessed her to agree to wear what Kelsi had given her. She didn't even want to know why the timid musician owned something like this, as much as Kelsi denied that it had been her older sister's hand me downs.

She would be lying if she said that the potential of Troy seeing her in this didn't cross her mind. In fact, if she was honest to herself, seeing him was probably the reason that drove her to agree to wear this beautiful dress that made her feel sexy and want to hide in a closet all at once.

The long, satin black fabric hugged her every curve and rise, but felt like cool water following the shape of her body. It was long enough to only lightly brush the floor while she was in a pair of smooth red heels. A dangerously long slit ran up her right leg, ending just at her mid-thigh. The front of her dress was modest enough, with a sweet heart neckline that (thankfully) only curved to show her collar; it was the daring dip at the back of her dress that made Gabriella want to go hide. The satin dress opened up her back and landed in drapes just at the base of her back, at every movement Gabriella could feel the cool air brushing against her bare skin and she would forever wonder if she was drugged or drunk when she agreed to this dress.

"You look absolutely stunning!" Kelsi squealed as she came out in her own dress. The auburn haired musician came out in a fitted lace black dress that hugged her body and ended also at mid-thigh. Her arms and shoulders were decorated with a film of see through lace, and the rest encased in fitted black fabric.

"Why couldn't I wear that one!" Gabriella gasped at once. Even though Kelsi's dress was shorter than her own, she would rather not show her entire back side to the world.

"You look amazing now let's go!" Kelsi ignored her complaint as she grabbed her hand. The taxi they had asked for was waiting outside, and Gabriella could feel her stomach twist and turning with excitement and nervousness.

But as she walked into the taxi with Kelsi, both girls locked eyes, and erupted in giggles. Gabriella felt tension lift her shoulders and let out a breath she felt like she had held onto for days.

For once she felt free.

For once she felt beautiful, _sexy_.

For once, she was a woman.

* * *

Troy scanned his tired blue eyes around the senior lounge—tables were filled with catering mixed from the local eateries around the academy campus and there were more chairs and room than he could care for. But a promise had been a promise, and Troy wanted his students to enjoy this Christmas break.

His heart had been pounding for hours, his mind going out of his control as he tried to imagine what Gabriella might show up in. He could only be glad that the room would be filled with is _students_ and he would be there as their _professor_. It was a safe role that he was used to adopting.

An hour later, the room was buzzed with the sound of music bouncing around the walls, and the excited chattering of young adults. Many had brought their friends and significant others, and most had conveniently provided alcoholic beverages.

"Need I remind you all that this is still school property," Troy dryly reminded his young adult musicians; they had all booed at him, and assured their professor that they were responsible, and that he needed to loosen up.

"_Right, loosen up, because that will be a smart idea." _Troy thought to himself. Loosen up was the last thing he should do, considering Gabriella had drifted in half an hour ago, and all he wanted to do was pull her into a dark corner away from prying eyes. And now all he could do was stand in his own corner, as his eyes narrowed on the tall, slim beauty in a daring black dress as her cheeks got rosier by the second by the wine in her hands.

Gabriella wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was having fun, a lot of fun. Maybe it was because Kelsi kept by her side all night, or maybe it was the second (or was it fifth?) glass of wine in her hand that made her warm every time she drank—regardless she was enjoying herself, and even managed to forget her back was bare for the world to see. The entire night, she could feel a tingling gaze on her, and she couldn't bring herself to look, because she knew exactly who it was, and she couldn't control what she would do.

"Hey,"

Gabriella looked up, and her eyes focused on a cute young man she recognized to be one of the saxophone players that sat a couple rows behind her. He smiled at her, his dimples curving at the corner of his mouth, and his grassy green eyes twinkling under the lights,

"Hi," Gabriella smiled. She looked around, and Kelsi was nowhere to be seen. Where did she go? More importantly, _when_ had she left?

"You're Gabby right?" the boy smiled again.

"_No, it's Gabriella,"_ she thought to herself, although she wondered why she couldn't say it out loud. She focused her eyes on him and the cute boyish dimples were still there, and the grassy green eyes still twinkled. _"Blue looks better, and the dimples make him look like a boy,"_ Gabriella found herself thinking. He was talking to her again, but his words weren't registering in her mind—her eyes kept trying to play tricks on her, trying to make his green eyes blue, make those dimples disappear, and make his brown hair turn into a dirty blond shade.

"I-I'm so sorry, I think I need to just…go to the restroom," Gabriella interrupted him. She placed her glass down, and made her way backwards, missing the slightly insulted face from her companion. She squeezed her way through her peers, all the way cursing her choice of wearing heels. She finally emerged out into the hallway which was a good couple degrees cooler than the room outdoors, and sighed. The cool air felt nice against her skin, and the buzzing in her head went down a bit as she left the noise behind her.

"I'm going to kill Kelsi for leaving me alone," she mumbled as she made her way through the dark halls. She wasn't sure where she was going, but now that she was out, she actually needed to go to the bathroom. Stumbling around, the back of her heels caught on a slightly raised wedge, and she almost lost her balance had it not been the too familiar pair of hands that steadied her.

"You ok?"

Troy had followed her out the moment she had left the room. Fighting the urge to fail a particular brown haired, green eye musician, he opted to take the 'higher road' and followed his unstable _student_ out. Thankfully he did, otherwise she might have hit her head had he not been there.

"I'm fine, sorry," Gabriella mumbled. She righted herself and stared at the tips of his shiny black dress shoes. She suddenly felt all to conscious of her exposed back, the slit up her leg, and the way the dress hugged her.

"It's fine, you alright?" Troy coughed slightly. "You looked a little unsteady; I just wanted to check up on you."

"I... I'm not exactly sure where the washroom is…" Gabriella blushed. She sounded like a nine year old lost trying to find her parents.

"_You are NOT a child! You are a grown woman! Look him in the eyes! You are a grown woman; look at what you're wearing for god sakes!"_ Her mind chided her. Gabriella clenched her hands. She was a grown woman. She was not in trouble, why shouldn't she look him straight in the eyes? Feeling a sudden wave of confidence, she looked up, and her brown eyes met straight on with bright blue eyes she could drown in.

The moment their eyes connected, it was like lightening that shocked their bodies. It was like magnets pulled from two ends of the earth together. It was like their eyes had been men, left starved for water for years on end, finally reaching paradise.

It was like nothing separated them.

Troy's hand wrapped around her back, feeling her bare skin against his bare hands; he pulled her to him, flushed against his body as he turned her around, and pushed her back, back and back until they were hidden by the shadows. Gabriella's back hit a wall, the impact softening only by the grip he had on her back. His other hand clutched the back of her neck, lifted her head up, and lips crashed on lips.

Gabriella's lips opened for him like she was welcoming her lover home. His lips and his tongues knew exactly what to do to open her up like a key to a door, and she breathed him in like an addict. Her hands ran through his hair, down his neck, squeezed his shoulders and pulled him closer, body against body, pitting fire against fire. Troy's hand left the back of her neck, running through the lines of her body, tracing her curves and being able to appreciate the dress in a way he could only dream. His hands landed at the opening of the slit, and he splayed his hands across her bare thigh, earning a gasp from her he gladly swallowed. His hand wound behind her thigh and pulled them up against his hip and he pushed. Their mouths parted, panting for air.

"What are we doing" Gabriella gasped. She pulled him in again to her lips.

"We need to stop," he mumbled against her lips, his hands squeezing her thigh.

"Stop me." She whispered, her hands trailing down the buttons of his dress shirt, and the buckles of his belt.

"Stop me." He repeated, his hand on his thigh travelling higher and higher her hitched leg, tracing the edges of her panties. Her breath hitched as his fingers slipped past her band. His hands paused and their eyes connected again, the glowing ambers in both their pupils daring the other to burn brighter.

"Stop me." He whispered again. He didn't know what it was; was it a demand? Was it a question? No…it was a dare. It was asking for permission for them to go somewhere neither knew. It was a challenge.

"No." Gabriella whispered. His fingers inched closer.

"Stop me."

"No." Another inch

"Stop me."

"No." He was right there.

"Stop me. Now." Troy dipped his face into the crevice of her neck, and his warm breath traveled up to her ears as his tongue dipped out and tasted the edge of her ear lobes. Gabriella's head fell back.

"No."

One finger was all it took and Gabriella let out deep moan that shook his core and questioned his will. It was slow and it was deliberate.

"Stop me. Right now." He whispered one more time. He pushed closer to her, and his hand pushed up, another finger entering her warmth, feeling the wet liquid heat pulse against his fingers. Gabriella stopped replying him with words, and answered him with hard clenches on his shoulder, and her harsh breathing against his bare neck. There were no more words, just his hands on her most sensitive part, opening doors she had kept shut, and new doors she never knew existed.

"Troy…oh god." She breathed out to the night air as he quickened his pace. She wanted his lips on hers, and she pulled his head back down again as they fought for dominance. Her mouth opened in erratic intervals, and her body moved on their own, meeting his thrusting hands.

"Gabriella," Troy groaned. He moved quicker. He needed to move quicker. He didn't just want his fingers in her, _he_ needed to be in her. It was like air, it was like needing water. He _needed _it.

Gabriella gasped and barely contained a whine when he abruptly pulled his fingers out. Everything suddenly came washing back, her leg hitched around his hips.

"_Oh god I made a mistake…he regrets it."_ Was her first thought. She looked at him, prepared for the rejection only to be met with ocean blue eyes that had darkened to a stormy blue, a colour she had only seen once, all the way in another continent, in the confines of a hotel room where it was just them.

Her heart picked up again.

"Stop me." He said one more time. This time it was not a challenge. It was not a dare. It was asking her for permission.

Permission to go somewhere they had never been before.

Permission to go to the forbidden.

It was asking her for permission to start something that would not have a happy ending.

Gabriella's eyes met his in defiance. She was a woman. She made her choices.

"No."


End file.
